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■<fOlOGICAL 


IS  THE 


BIBLE   INSPIRED? 


JAMES  H.  BROOKES , 

Author  of  "  Is  the  Bible  True,"  "  Outlines  of  the  Books  of  the 
Bible,"  "  The  Holy  Spirit,"  "  Erom  Death  unto  Life,"  etc. 


ST.  LOUIS: 
Gospel  Book  and  Tract  Depository, 

212  North  Fifth  Street.  " 


INTRODUCTION  , 


This  little  book  is  the  fruit  of  a  suggestion  by  Prof. 
Briggs  in  his  Biblical  Study  :  ''  The  doctrine  of  inspiration 
may  be  constructed  by  a  careful,  painstaking  study  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures  themselves,  gathering  together  their 
testimony  as  to  their  own  origin,  character,  design,  value, 
and  authority."  It  lays  no  claim  whatever  to  originality 
or  scholarship,  but  its  sole  aim  is  to  show  in  simple  lan- 
guage that  the  words  of  the  Bible  are  the  words  of  God. 
If  He  is  pleased  to  own  it  in  the  least  degree  to  confirm 
the  faith  of  any  of  His  children  in  the  verbal  inspiration 
of  the  book  given  to  us  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  or  to  sound  a 
note  of  alarm  that  may  summons  abler  pens  to  the  de- 
fence of  the  truth,  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  hastily 
prepared  will  be  accomplished ;  and  to  Him  shall  be  all 

the  praise  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

3 


CONTENTS. 


1.  The  Faith  of  the  Church, 7 

II.  Modern  Theories  of  Inspiration,         -       -       -  16 

III.  The  Inspiration  of  the  Historical   Books  and 

Psalms  of  the  Old  Testament,     -       -       -       -  29 

IV.  The  Inspiration  of  the  Prophetical  Books  of  the 

Old  Testament, 41 

V.  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Historical  Books  of 

the  New, 54 

VI.  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Epistles  of  the  New,  73 

VII.  The  Inspiration  of  the  New  Testament,       -       -   92 

5 


IS  THE  BIBLE  INSPIRED? 


THE  FAITH  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

®NLY  within  recent  years  has  the  question  been 
asked  by  Christians,  Is  the  Bible  inspired? 
Among  the  apostolic  fathers,  as  they  are  called, 
and  for  centuries  afterwards,  there  was  no  dispute 
on  the  part  of  those  who  accepted  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  as  a  revelation  from  God,  concerning 
their  plenary  inspiration,  their  supreme  authority, 
and  their  divine  infallibility  from  first  to  last. 
Clement,  for  example,  of  whom  Irenseus  speaks 
"as  having  seen  and  conversed  with  the  blessed 
apostles,"  and  mentioned  by  one  of  the  apostles 
as  a  fellow  laborer  in  the  gospel,  wrote  a  long  epis- 
tle to  the  Corinthians,  the  genuineness  of  which 
is  not  doubted.  Scattered  all  through  this  epis- 
tle, when  he  quotes  Scripture,  and  this  he  does 
continually,  are  such  expressions  as  the  follow- 
ing:  "Hence  we  find  how  all  the  ministers  of 
the  grace  of  God  have  spoken  by  the  Holy 
Spirit;"  "For  thus  saith  the  Holy  Spirit;" 
"For  so  says  the  Holy  Scripture ;"  "The  Holy 
Scripture  itself  bearing  witness  ,"  "  For  He  saith, 
eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard  ;"  "  Look  into  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  which  are  the  true  words  of  the 
Holy  Ghost;"  "Ye   know,  beloved,  ye  know  full 


8  IS   THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

well  the  Holy  Scriptures;  and  have  thoroughly- 
searched  into  the  oracles  of  God  :  call  them  there- 
fore to  your  remembrance." 

In  an  epistle  of  Barnabas,  another  companion  and 
fellow-preacher  with  Paul,  cited  by  Clemens  Alexan- 
drinus,  Origen,  Eusebius,  and  Jerome,  and  accepted 
as  genuine  by  many  of  the  early  fathers,  we  have 
testimonies  like  these:  ''For  so  the  Lord  saith 
again  to  those  heretofore  ;"  "  Wherefore  He  again 
speaketh  to  them;"  "For  thus  saith  the  Scrip- 
ture ;"  ''For  God  hath  said;"  "And  therefore  the 
Scripture  again  speaks;"  "And  again  He  saith, 
hear  O  Israel,  for  thus  saith  the  Lord,  thy  God. 
And  again  the  Spirit  of  God  prophesieth,  saying ;" 
"  Furthermore,  it  is  written  concerning  the  Sab- 
bath, in  the  Ten  Commandments,  which  God  spake 
in  the  Mount  Sinai  to  Moses,  face  to  face  ;"  "  The 
Lord  hath  declared  unto  us  by  the  prophets;" 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  by  the  prophets ;"  "  Moses 
in  the  Spirit  spake." 

The  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical,  Theological  and 
Ecclesiastical  Literature  contains  an  excellent  arti- 
cle upon  Irenseus  whom  it  rei^resents  as  saying, 
"Well  knowing  that  the  Scriptures  are  perfect, 
as  dictated  (or  spoken)  by  the  word  of  God,  and 
his  Spirit.  .  .  .  We  follow  the  one  and  only 
true  God,  as  our  teacher;  and  having  His  words 
as  a  rule  of  truth,  do  always  speak  the  same 
things  concerning  the  same  things."  "  But  more 
than  this,  by  the  language  which  Irenseus  uses, 
we  find  the  church  of  his  day  harmonizing  with 
and  justifying  the  very  highest  claims  that  have 
ever    been    advanced   in  support  of  the   inspired 


THE   FAITH    OF   THE    CHURCH.  9 

authority  and  infallible  accuracy  of  the  canonical 
writings."  Hyppolytus,  his  disciple,  says  of  the 
Bible  writers,  ''  Be  assured  they  did  not  speak  in 
their  own  strength,  nor  out  of  their  own  minds, 
what  they  proclaimed ;  but  first  by  the  inspiration 
of  the  word  they  were  imbued  with  wisdom." 

Origen,  according  to  Lardner,  declares  ''  that  the 
sacred  books  are  not  writings  of  men,  but  have 
been  written  and  delivered  to  us  from  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the  will  of  the  Father  of 
all  things,  through  Jesus  Christ;"  "the  sacred 
Scriptures  come  from  the  fulness  of  the  Spirit ;  so 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  prophets,  or  the  law, 
or  the  gospel  and  the  epistles  which  descends  not 
from  the  Divine  majesty;  .  .  .  one  and  the 
same  Spirit  proceeding  from  one  God,  teaching  the 
like  things  in  the  Scriptures,  written  before  the 
coming  of  Christ,  and  in  the  gospels  and  apostles." 

Augustine  is  equally  emphatic  in  asserting  that 
the  Scriptures  were  spoken  by  God  through  men ; 
and  many  similar  declarations  could  be  furnished 
from  other  writers  of  the  first  centuries.  Indeed, 
Lord  Hailes,  as  stated  in  the  biography  of  Robert 
Haldane,  easily  discovered  in  the  Christian  writ- 
ings of  these  centuries  the  whole  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment with  the  exception  of  seven  verses,  which  he 
felt  sure  he  could  also  find ;  and  the  passages  thus 
plentifully  quoted  were  always  presented  as  the 
very  word  of  God,  and  not  as  the  word  of  man. 
It  is  enough  perhaps  to  say  that  such  is  the  un- 
varying testimony  of  the  church  for  four  hundred 
years,  and  it  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to 
these    early  believers   to   inquire    whether    there 


10  IS   THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

might  be  dififerent  degrees  and  kinds  of  inspira- 
tion, or  whether  some  of  the  books  of  the  Bible, 
or  some  portions  of  some  of  the  books,  might  be 
inspired,  and  others  ■unins2:>ired.  / 

When  the  light  of  the  reformation  broke  upon 
Europe  the  same  profound  reverence  for  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  fully  and  equally  inspired,  is  discovered 
in  all  of  the  writings  and  confessions  of  the  church. 
Thus  we  find  according  to  Schafif's  Creeds  of  Chris- 
tendom in  the  Belgic  Confession,  A.  D.  1561,  Arti- 
cle III.,  as  follows  :  "  We  confess  that  this  word  of 
God  was  not  sent  nor  delivered  by  the  will  of  man, 
but  that  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the  apostle  Peter  saith.  And 
that  afterwards  God,  from  a  special  care  which  he 
has  for  us  and  our  salvation,  commanded  his  ser- 
vants, the  prophets  and  apostles,  to  commit  his 
revealed  word  to  writing ;  and  he  himself  wrote 
with  his  own  fingers  the  two  tables  of  stone. 
Therefore  we  call  such  writings  holy  and  divine 
Scriptures." 

So  the  Helvetic  confession  of  1566  starts  out  with 
the  declaration,  "We  believe  and  confess,  the 
canonical  Scriptures  of  the  Holy  prophets  and 
apostles  of  both  Testaments  to  be  the  true  w^ord  of 
God  itself,  for  God  himself  spoke  to  the  fathers, 
the  prophets  and  the  apostles,  and  still  speaks  to 
us  by  the  sacred  Scriptures."  "  The  Irish  Articles 
of  Religion,"  adopted  in  1615,  state:  1.  "The 
ground  of  our  religion  and  the  rule  of  faith  and  all 
saving  truth  is  the  word  of  God,  contained  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  2.  By  the  name  of  Holy  Scrip- 
tures we  understand  all  the  canonical  books  of  the 


THE    FAITH    OF    THE    CHURCH.  11 

Old  and  New  Testament."  Then  follow  the  names 
of  the  books  in  the  precise  order  in  which  we  have 
them  to-day.  "All  which  we  acknowledge  to  be 
given  by  the  inspiration  of  God,  and  in  that  regard 
to  be  of  most  certain  credit  and  highest  authority. 
''The  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,"  1647, 
opens  Avith  these  striking  words  :  '^  Although  the 
light  of  nature,  and  the  works  of  creation  and 
providence,  do  so  far  manifest  the  goodness,  wis- 
dom and  power  of  God,  as  to  leave  men  inexcus- 
able; yet  are  they  not  sufficient  to  give  that  knowl- 
edge of  God,  and  of  his  will,  which  is  necessary 
unto  salvation ;  therefore  it  pleased  the  Lord,  at 
sundry  times,  and  in  divers  manners,  to  reveal 
himself,  and  to  declare  that  his  will  unto  his 
church  ;  and  afterwards  for  the  better  preserving 
and  propagating  of  the  truth,  and  for  the  more  sure 
establishment  and  comfort  of  the  church  against 
the  corruption  of  the  flesh,  and  the  malice  of  Satan 
and  the  world,  to  commit  the  same  wholly  unto 
writing ;  which  maketh  the  Holy  Scripture  to  be 
most  necessary;  those  former  ways  of  God's  re- 
vealing His  will  unto  his  people  being  now  ceased. 

II.  "  Under  the  name  of  Holy  Scripture,  or  the 
word  of  God  written,  are  now  contained  all  the 
books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  which  are 
these  :  [the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
are  then  mentioned  as  they  occur  in  our  English 
Bible,]  all  which  are  given  by  inspiration  of  God, 
to  be  the  rule  of  faith  and  life. 

III.  ''The  books  commonly  called  Apocrypha, 
not  being  of  divine  inspiration,  are  no  part  of  the 
canon  of  the  Scripture  ;    and  therefore   are  of  no 


12  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

authority  in  the  church  of  God,  nor  to  be  any  other- 
wise approved  or  made  use  of  than  other  human 
writings. 

IV.  "The  authority  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  for 
which  it  ought  to  be  believed  and  obeyed,  depend- 
eth  not  upon  the  testimony  of  any  man  or  church, 
but  wholly  upon  God  (who  is  truth  itself,)  the 
author  thereof;  and  therefore  it  is  to  be  received, 
because  it  is  the  word  of  God. 

VIII.  "The  Old  Testament  in  Hebrew  (whicb 
was  the  native  language  of  the  people  of  God  of 
old,)  and  the  New  Testament  in  Greek  (which  at 
the  time  of  the  writing  of  it  was  most  generally 
known  to  the  nations,)  being  immediately  inspired 
by  God ;  and  by  his  singular  care  and  providence 
kept  pure  in  all  ages,  are  therefore  authentical ;  so 
as  in  all  controversies  of  religion  the  church  is 
finally  to  appeal  unto  them. 

IX.  "The  infallible  rule  of  interpretation  of 
Scripture  is  the  Scripture  itself;  and  therefore, 
when  there  is  a  question  about  the  true  or  full  sense 
of  any  Scripture  (which  is  not  manifold,  but  one,) 
it  must  be  searched  and  known  by  other  places  that 
speak  more  clearly. 

X.  "The  Supreme  Judge,  by  which  all  contro- 
versies of  religion  are  to  be  determined,  and  all  de- 
crees, councils,  opinions  of  ancient  writings,  doc- 
trines of  men,  and  private  spirits,  are  to  be  exam- 
ined, and  in  whose  sentence  we  are  to  rest,  can  be 
no  other  but  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  the 
Scripture." 

Even  the  famous  Roman  Catholic  Council  of 
Trent,  1546,  "following,"  as  it  declares,   "the  ex- 


THE   FAITH    OF   THE    CHURCH.  13 

amples  of  orthodox  fathers,  receives  and  venerates 
with  an  equal  affection  of  piety  and  reverence,  all 
the  books  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament — 
seeing  that  one  God  is  the  author  of  both — as  also 
the  said  traditions,  as  well  as  those  appertaining  to 
faith  as  to  morals,  as  having  been  dictated,  either 
by  Christ's  own  word  of  mouth,  or  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  preserved  in  the  Catholic  church  by  a 
continuous  succession." 

So  among  the  "  Dogmatic  Decrees  of  the  Vatican 
Council,"  1870,  it  is  said  that  "this  supernatural 
revelation,  according  to  the  universal  belief  of  thie 
church,  declared  by  th6  sacred  Synod  of  Trent,  is 
contained  in  the  written  books  and  unwritten  tradi- 
tions which  have  come  down  to  us,  having  been  re- 
ceived by  the  apostles  from  the  mouth  of  Christ 
himself;  or  from  the  apostles  themselves  by  the 
dictation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  have  been  transmitted, 
as  it  were,  from  hand  to  hand.  And  these  books  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament  are  to  be  received  as 
sacred  and  canonical  in  their  integrity  with  all  their 
parts,  as  they  are  enumerated  in  the  decrees  of  the 
said  Council,  and  are  contained  in  the  ancient 
Latin  edition  of  the  Vulgate.  These  the  church 
holds  to  be  sacred  and  canonical,  not  because  hav- 
ing been  carefully  composed  by  mere  human  indus- 
try, they  were  afterwards  approved  by  her  authority, 
nor  merely  because  they  contained  revelations  with 
no  admixture  of  error,  but  because  having  been 
written  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  they 
have  God  for  their  authority,  and  have  been  deliv- 
ered as  such  to  the  church  herself." 

In  the  Longer  Catechism  of  the  Eastern  church 


14  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

also,  "  Examined  and  approved  by  the  most  holy- 
governing  Synod,  and  published  for  the  use  of 
schools  and  of  all  orthodox  Christians,  by  order  of 
his  imperial  majesty  at  Moscow,  1839,  we  find 
question  19,  '^  What  is  that  which  you  call  Holy 
Scripture?  Answer:  Certain  books  written  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  through  men  sanctified  by  God,  called 
propliets  and  apostles.  These  books  are  common- 
ly termed  the  Bible.  Question  20,  What  does  the 
word  Bihle  mean  ?  Answer  :  It  is  Greek  and  means 
the  hooks.  The  name  signifies  that  the  sacred  books 
deserve  attention  before  all  others.  Question  22, 
Why,  then,  was  the  holy  scripture  given?  An- 
swer :  To  this  end  that  divine  revelation  might  be 
preserved  more  exactly  and  unchangeably.  In 
holy  Scripture  we  read  the  words  of  the  prophets 
and  apostles  precisely  as  if  we  were  living  with 
them  and  listening  to  them.  Question  23,  Must 
we  follow  holy  tradition,  even  when  we  possess 
holy  Scripture  ?  Answer  :  We  must  follow  that 
tradition  which  agrees  with  the  divine  revelation, 
and  with  holy  Scripture.'^ 

These  extracts  must  serve  at  present  as  samples 
of  many  similar  testimonies  that  might  be  given 
from  those  who  are  known  as  "  the  fathers,"  and 
from  all  branches  of  the  Christian  church.  They 
show  with  singular  unanimity  the  belief  of  the 
entire  body  of  the  Saviour's  professed  followers  in 
the  divine  inspiration  of  all  the  books  that  compose 
the  Bible,  however  wide  apart  and  discordant,  and 
sharply  opposed  in  many  things  pertaining  to  eccle- 
siastical ordinances,  to  forms  of  government,  and 
to  doctrines   of   minor    importance.     The  Roman 


THE   FAITH   OF   THE   CHURCH.  15 

Catholic,  the  Greek,  and  the  Protestant  communion 
and  the  various  parties  and  factions  in  each  of 
these,  may  have  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  one 
another,  but  they  all  unite  with  one  voice  in  pro- 
claiming that  the  sacred  Scriptures  are  the  word 
and  work  of  God. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  they  advance  no  theory 
about  the  mode  of  inspiration,  nor  is  any  theory 
held  and  maintained,  so  far  as  is  known,  for  per- 
haps seventeen  hundred  years  after  the  death  of 
Christ.  They  content  themselves  with  asserting 
in  the  strongest  terms  that  we  are  indebted  for  the 
writings  called  the  sacred  Scriptures  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  that  the  words  we  there  read  are  the  words 
of  God,  and  hence  that  in  the  perusal  of  them  we 
may  be  assured  of  entire  exemption  from  the  ignor- 
ance, the  folly  and  the  mistakes  of  men.  Through 
all  these  centuries  the  church  in  every  branch  and 
portion  that  has  the  slightest  ground  for  claiming 
the  name  of  a  church,  has  steadily  and  stoutly 
affirmed  that  the  Bible  is  God's  book  in  a  sense 
that  belongs  to  no  other  book,  and  hence  that  all  of 
its  commands  are  authoritative,  all  of  its  teachings 
are  infallible,  all  of  its  narratives  are  indisputable, 
and  all  of  its  decisions  are  final. 


II. 

MODERN  THEORIES  OF  INSPIRATION, 

T  was  reserved  for  a  time  near  our  own  to  witness 
the  first  serious  departure  from  this  universal 
faith  of  the  church.  In  Germany,  the  birth-place 
of  the  reformation,  and  the  birth-place  of  much 
that  is  far  less  desirable,  there  was  heard  about  a 
century  ago,  even  among  many  who  had  not  aban- 
doned Christianity,  a  denial  of  all  that  is  super- 
natural in  inspiration.  It  was  held  that  the  only 
inspiration  is  found  in  the  sublime  thoughts  and 
devotional  feelings  of  the  men  Avho  wrote  the  Bible, 
and  that  these  thoughts  and  feelings  did  not  guard 
them  against  error  and  imperfection,  anymore  than 
do  similar  thoughts  and  feelings  as  expressed  in  the 
opinions  and  writings  of  other  Christians,  their 
equals  in  other  respects. 

Perhaps  the  most  prominent,  or  at  least  the  most 
influential  of  this  school,  was  Schleiermacher,  pro- 
nounced by  Dr.  SchafF,  ''the  greatest  divine  of  the 
nineteenth  century,"  although  he  admits  that  he 
was  a  Universalist,  and  that  ''he  shook  almost 
every  dogma  of  orthodoxy."  Of  this  man  the 
Biblical  Cyclopaedia  says  that,  "  ignoring  the  dog- 
ma of  inspiration,  he  laid  free  hand  upon  the  sacred 
book,  just  as  upon  the  dialogues  of  Plato,  or  any 
other  ancient  documents.  But  he  did  not  doubt 
the  substantial  genuineness  of  the  Bible,  and  he 
was  confident  that  critical  science  is  capable  of 
drawing  the  line  between  the  essential  and  the  non- 
16 


MODERN    THEORIES    OF    INSPIRATION.  17 

essential."  The  legitimate  and  logical  result  of 
such  teaching,  the  natural  and  inevitable  fruit  of 
such  planting,  was  seen  in  the  terrible  assault  of 
his  pupil  Strauss  upon  the  New  Testament,  an 
assault  which  has  exhausted  the  armory  of  the  devil 
in  his  hatred  of  Christianity. 

This  view,  so  fatal  not  only  to  inspiration,  but  to 
revelation  itself,  passed  over  into  England,  and  was 
adopted  in  a  modified  form  by  Coleridge,  and  then 
by  Arnold  of  Rugby,  but  was  carried  to  its  unavoid- 
able extreme  as  seen  in  the  writings  of  his  son 
Matthew,  and  as  seen  also  in  the  teachings  of  Cole- 
ridge's admirers  and  pupils,  Maurice  and  Macnaught 
the  latter  of  whom  says,  ''  Milton  and  Shakespeare 
and  Bacon,  and  Canticles  and  the  Apocalypse,  and 
the  sermon  on  the  mount  and  the  eighth  chapter  of 
Romans,  are,  in  our  estimation,  all  inspired,  but 
which  of  them  is  the  most  valuable  inspired  docu- 
ment, or  whether  the  Bible,  as  a  whole,  is  not  in- 
comparably more  precious  than  any  other  book — 
these  are  questions  that  must  be  decided  by  exam- 
ining the  observable  character  and  tendency  of  each 
book,  and  the  beneficial  effect  that  history  may 
show  that  each  has  produced." 

It  is  not  surprising  to  find  such  a  writer  claiming 
that  "  there  is  a  true  inspiration  in  '  the  instinct  of 
the  owl;'  that  it  is  heard  in  the  rushing  of  Hhe 
wind ;'  that  it  is  seen  in  '  the  springing  of  a  blade 
of  grass  ;'  that  it  murmurs  along  '  the  streams  that 
flow  among  the  hills ;'  that  '  the  herds  of  the  field 
calve '  by  inspiration." 

Of  course  any  half  idiot  can  see  that  this  is  infi- 
delity in  the  thinnest  disguise.  If  the  inspiration 
2 


18  IS    THE    BIBLE    INSPIRED? 

of  the  Bible  is  only  the  inspiration  common  to  men 
who  may  write  readable  books,  nay,  common  to  the 
lower  animals  and  to  inanimate  creation,  it  is  worse 
than  foolish  to  say  that  the  Bible  contains  a  revela- 
tion at  all.  Hence  such  a  view  needs  no  discussion, 
for  it  is  unworthy  of  refutation.  There  is  not  a 
particle  of  difference  between  it  and  the  coarse  blas- 
phemies of  Tom  Payne  and  Bob  Ingersoll,  except 
that  it  is  more  decent  in  its  expressions,  and  more 
respectful  in  its  treatment  of  God's  great  book. 

Another  view,  scarcely  less  dangerous  in  its  prac^ 
tical  effects,  but  held  by  men  of  undoubted  piety 
and  ability,  and  of  general  soundness  in  the  faith, 
supposes  that  there  are  different  degrees  in  inspira- 
tion. Drs.  Hill  and  Dick  taught  their  theological 
classes  that  there  is  an  inspiration  of  superintend- 
ence, an  inspi-ration  of  elevation,  and  an  inspiration 
of  suggestion.  Dr.  Henderson  increased  the  num- 
ber to  five,  the  inspiration  of  excitement,  the  in- 
spiration of  invigoration,  the  inspiration  of  super- 
intendence, the  inspiration  of  guidance,  and  the 
inspiration  of  direct  revelation.  They  imagined 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  not  needed,  when  the 
writers  of  the  Bible  were  able  to  discover  for  them- 
selves the  facts  which  they  recorded,  as  their  his- 
torical narratives,  and  that  divine  help  was  be- 
stowed in  exact  proportion  to  the  necessities  of  the 
penmen.  In  other  words,  God  threw  them  upon 
their  own  resources,  and  when  nature  failed,  He 
interposed  to  supply  the  information  which  they 
could  not  otherwise  obtain. 

Yet,  Dr.  Hill  admits  that,  at  least,  '*in  the 
prophecies    which  the   New  Testament    contains, 


MODERN   THEORIES   OF   INSPIRATION.  19 

there  must  have  been  the  inspiration  of  suggestion. 
Neither  the  words  nor  the  thoughts  could  there 
come  by  the  will  of  man ;  and  the  writers  spake  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Dr.  Dick 
has  most  completely  refuted  his  own. view  when  he 
says,  '' Others  have  maintained,  that  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  apostles  was  only  occasional ;  that  they 
were  not  always  assisted  and  guided  by  the  Holy 
Spirit;  and  that  consequently,  being  sometimes 
left  to  themselves,  they  thought  and  reasoned  like 
ordinary  men.  As  this  is  a  mere  hypothesis,  un- 
supported by  proof,  it  is  entitled  to  very  little 
attention.  If  admitted,  it  would  involve  us  in  very 
great  perplexity,  because,  not  knowing  when  they 
did,  and  when  they  did  not,  enjoy  the  presence  of 
the  Spirit,  we  should  be  utterly  at  a  loss  to  deter- 
mine what  parts  of  their  writings  we  ought  to  be- 
lieve. There  would  be  truth,  and  there  might  be 
error  in  them  ,  but  how  to  distinguish  and  separate 
them,  would  puzzle  the  wisest  head.  And  it  comes 
to  the  same  thing  at  last,  whether  you  say  that  they 
were  not  inspired  at  all,  or  that  they  were  inspired 
on  certain  occasions,  while  you  do  not  furnish  us 
with  the  means  of* ascertaining  those  occasions.'' 
And  it  comes  to  the  same  thing  at  last,  it  may  be 
addedjWhether  you  say, that  they  were  not  inspired 
at  all,  or  that  they  were  inspired  in  various  degrees, 
while  you  do  not  furnish  us  with  the  means  of 
ascertaining  what  portion  of  the  Bible  was  written 
by  inspiration,  and  what  portion  was  left  to  man's 
treacherous  memory,  and  fallible  judgment,  and 
educational  facilities,  and  peculiar  temperament, 
and  natural  prejudice,  and  inborn  tendency  to  lie. 


20  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

Dr.  Bannerman,  Professor  of  Theology  in  New 
College,  Edinburgh,  has  truly  said,  ''The  origin 
and  occasion  of  this  theory  cast  no  small  measure 
of  light  upon  the  character  of  it.  It  was  intro- 
duced avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the 
allegations  of  error  and  imperfection  in  Scripture, 
and  in  order  to  reconcile  the  existence  of  real  de- 
fects with  the  belief  of  a  divine  agency  employed 
in  the  composition  of  it.  And  had  there  been  any 
foundation  of  truth  in  the  theory  itself,  it  would 
have  answered  the  pur^^ose  for  which  it  was  used. 
Wherever  imperfection  existed  in  Scripture,  it  was 
sufficient  for  the  advocates  of  such  a  scheme  to  say 
that  there  the  human  element  was  present  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  divine,  and  that  the  error  was  due 
to  the  former  in  the  absence  of  the  latter.  The 
theory  was  undoubtedly  based  upon  a  compromise 
between  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of  inspiration, 
in  which  the  enemies  were  allowed  to  retain  the 
errors  which  they  alleged  in  the  sacred  volume, 
and  the  friends  were  enabled  to  account  for  them, 
while  yet  retaining  the  general  doctrine  of  an  in- 
spiration, at  least  in  name."  As  the  theory,  how- 
ever, is  totally  abandoned,  or,  at  least,  is  never 
advanced,  it  requires  no  further  notice. 

There  is  yet  another  theory,  still  more  absurd 
than  the  last,  which  is  now  commonly  held,  and 
held  by  many  who  claim  to  be  thoroughly  evan- 
gelical. It  supposes  that  the  thoughts  of  the  Scrip- 
ture writers  were  inspired — that  is,  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  gave  them  correct  conceptions  of  the  truth 
to  be  recorded,  and  then  left  them  wholly  to  their 
own  taste  and  understanding  and  mental  culture  to 


MODERN   THEORIES    OF    INSPIRATION.  21 

select  the  words  which  form  the  vehicle  for  the 
transmission  of  these  thoughts  into  utterance. 
Truly  this  would  be  a  mockery  of  our  agony  in  the 
yearning  of  the  soul  to  know  what  God  has  said  to 
a  lost  world.  It  would  be  like  one  pointing  us  to 
a  priceless  treasure  locked  in  a  casket,  and  then 
throwing  away  the  key  and  leaving  us  as  poor  as 
ever.  However  true  or  important  or  sublime  the 
thoughts  may  be,  they  are  of  no  value  to  us,  unless 
expressed  in  words  that  suitably  and  accurately 
convey  them  to  our  minds,  for  we  can  get  at 
thoughts  only  through  words.  It  is  the  same, 
therefore,  as  saying  that  we  have  no  Bible  at  all  to 
affirm  that  the  thoughts  of  the  writers  were  inspired, 
but  that  their  words  were  compelled  to  run  the 
cha.xces  of  human  error  or  ignorance.  So  far  as  we 
knew  men  really  think  only  in  words,  and  if  God 
could  have  inspired  the  thoughts  of  these  penmen, 
and  then  cast  them  upon  their  own  choice  to  select 
language  for  the  utterance  of  their  thoughts,  we 
would  have  precisely  the  same  ground  for  our  faith 
and  hope,  which  we  find  in  uninspired  authors, 
neither  more  nor  less.  There  would  be  no  divine 
testimony,  and  therefore  no  certainty  about  any- 
thing that  touches  the  tremendous  question  of  our 
salvation. 

But  apart  from  this  conclusive  objection  to  the 
view,  whijch,  alas  !  now  seems  to  be  generally  enter- 
tained, it  is  enough  to  say  that  there  is  not  a  line 
in  the  Bible  to  give  it  the  least  foundation.  As 
Dr.  Bannerman  has  well  said  again,  "  All  these 
theories  of  inspiration  are  wrong,  simply  because 
they  are  theories — human   and  unauthorized  at- 


22  IS   THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

tempts  to  explain  a  supernatural  mystery,  the  real- 
ity of  which  is  plainly  asserted  in  the  Bible, but  the 
solution  of  which  is  left  untouched.  But  some  of 
them  [and  this  among  them]  are  still  further  wrong 
as  running  counter  to  the  facts  which  they  are 
framed  to  explain."  Never  was  the  caution  more 
needed  than  here,  "  not  to  think  above  that  which 
is  written,"  (1  Cor.  iv.  6),  for  man  is  no  more 
competent  to  deal  with  the  mystery  of  inspiration 
than  he  is  with  the  mystery  of  the  incarnation. 
We  only  know,  and  thank  God  for  it,  that  we  have 
a  book  divinely  inspired,  divinely  infallible  both 
in  its  thoughts  and  words  ;  and  while  we  may  be 
assured  of  this  by  the  Scriptures  themselves,  we 
are  not  called  to  fathom  the  infinitudes  of  Jeho- 
vah's unsearchable  wisdom  and  knowledge.  When 
He  has  spoken,  it  is  our  privilege  to  stand  firmly 
and  fearlessly  upon  the  truth  of  His  testimony ; 
when  He  has  not  spoken,  it  is  wisdom  on  our  part 
to  be  silent. 

There  is  one  other  theory  of  inspiration  called 
dynamic,  whatever  that  means.  But  it  has  no  mean- 
ing. It  is  a  high  sounding  term,  which,  like  many 
other  high-sounding  terms,  is  only  a  sound,  for  it 
has  no  sense.  If  those  who  use  the  expression 
intend  by  it  powerful,  efficient,  or  that  which  is 
effectual  for  attaining  the  end  and  accomplishing 
the  purpose  for  which  revelation  was  given,  it  ex- 
plains nothing  and  helps  nothing  to  the  better  un- 
derstanding of  the  subj  ect .  If  they  intend  by  it  that 
the  power  or  the  influence  is  from  God  while  the 
action  is  human,  the  term  is  admissable  ;  but  it 
leaves  us  just  where  we   were  before,   to  inquire 


MODERN   THEORIES    OF   INSPIRATION.  23 

whether  there  is  a  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  of  all  the  Scriptures  ;  that  is,  a  full, 
complete  inspiration,  "an  inspiration  in  which 
there  is  no  mixture  whatever  of  error,"  or  whether 
revelation  comes  to  us  in  an  imperfect  and  mutilated 
form,  the  thoughts  originating  with  God,  the  words 
descending  from  no  higher  source  than  man's  poor 
intellect. 

The  importance  of  this  inquiry  it  is  impossible 
to  overstate.  Itis  obvious  that  upon  the  conclusion 
we  reach  will  largely  depend  our  interest  in  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  our  confidence  in  the  testi- 
mony they  bear,  and  our  certainty  as  to  the  ground 
of  our  standing  before  God  for  all  eternity.  More- 
over, whether  we  are  living  "  in  the  last  days"  or 
not,  these  are  certainly  ''perilous  times,"  for  the 
state  of  the  world,  the  unrest  of  men,  the  plottings 
of  revolutionists,  the  decay  of  ancient  governments, 
the  rapid  spread  of  communism,  nihilism,  agnos- 
ticism and  hydra-headed  infidelity,  the  hurricanes 
rushing  through  the  air,  the  disasters  upon  land 
and  sea,  crowding  each  other  so  rapidly  that  it  is 
impossible  to  keep  them  in  memory,  the  marked 
increase  of  rationalism  in  the  church  itself,  all  por- 
tend that  we  are  called  to  face  formidable  dangers, 
and  that  we  stand  at  the  threshhold  of  momentous 
changes.  If  we  have  no  earnest  and  positive  faith 
in  the  Bible  as  the  very  word  of  God,  where  shall 
we  look  for  guidance  and  comfort  and  refuge  ?  "If 
the  foundations  be  destroyed  what  can  the  right- 
eous do?" 

Prof.  Green,  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary, 
in  his  crushing  review  of  Prof.  Robertson's  Smith's 


24  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

''Higher  Criticism,"  opens  his  admirable  book 
with  these  words  :  "  All  the  signs  of  the  times  indi- 
cate that  the  American  church,  and,  in  fact,  the 
whole  of  English-speaking  Christendom,  is  upon 
the  eve  of  an  agitation  upon  the  vital  and  fundamen- 
tal question  of  the  inspiration  and  infallibility  of 
the  Bible,  such  as  it  has  never  known  before.  The 
divinity  and  authorship  of  the  Scriptures  have 
heretofore  been  defended  against  the  outside  world 
of  unbelievers,  against  pagans,  infidels  and  skep- 
tics ;  but  the  question  is  now  raised,  and  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  Scriptures  contested 
within  the  church  itself.  In  the  controversies 
which  have  agitated  the  churches  of  Great  Britain 
and  of  this  country  heretofore,  the  infallible  author- 
ity of  Scripture  has  been  admitted  as  the  ultimate 
test  of  doctrine  by  all  contending  parties.  All  made 
their  appeal  to  this  standard.  The  settlement  of 
every  question  depended  upon  its  interpretation, 
or  upon  inferences  fairly  deducible  from  it.  But 
now  the  standard  is  itself  brought  into  question. 
Utterances  which  fill  the  air  upon  every  side,  and 
are  borne  to  us  from  every  quarter,  from  professors' 
chairs,  from  pulpits,  from  the  religious  press,  not 
to  speak  of  what  is  incidentally  woven  into  general 
literature  and  promiscuous  conversation,  show 
abundantly  that  the  burning  question  of  the  age  is 
not.  What  does  the  Bible  teach?  It  is  one  yet 
more  radical  and  fundamental :  What  is  the  Bible  ? 
In  what  sense  is  it  the  word  of  God?  Is  it  a  rev- 
elation from  him  and  divinely  authoritative  ;  or  is 
it  to  be  left  to  ihh  interpreter  to  say  what  in  it  is 
from  God  and  worthv  of  our  faith,  and  what  is  the 


MODERN   THEORIES    OF   INSPIRATION.  25 

fallible  human  element  that  may  be  rej  ected  ?  This 
question  is  approached  from  all  sides,  and  the  most 
diverse  and  conflicting  answers  have  been  given." 
Again  he  says  in  his  introductory  chapter  :  ' '  The 
venerable  Dr.  Hodge,  who  w^as  for  nearly  three 
score  years  the  glory  and  strength  of  Princeton 
Seminary,  was  called  upon  for  some  remarks  in  the 
Week  of  Prayer,  at  the  beginning,  I  think,  of  the 
last  year  of  his  life.  The  subject  before  the  meet- 
ing was  the  conversion  of  the  world.  It  was  his 
habit,  on  such  occasions,  to  present  a  cheering  view 
derived  from  the  progress  which  the  gospel  had 
made  or  was  making,  or  from  the  accomplished 
work  of  redemption  which  is  the  assured  basis  of 
the  world's  salvation,  or  the  unfailing  promise  of 
God  which  makes  the  issue  certain  ;  but  at  the  time 
referred  to  he  recited,  in  long  and  formidable  array, 
the  various  forms  of  opposition  which  are  directed 
against  the  gospel  within  the  bounds  of  Christendom 
itself — the  materialistic  philosophy,  the  oppositions 
of  science,  the  socialistic  excesses — and  showed  in 
what  various  ways  unsanctified  learning,  power 
and  influence  in  irreligious  hands,  and  unchrist- 
ianized  masses,  stand  as  barriers  to  the  progress  of 
truth  and  holiness.  His  aim  was  not  to  discourage, 
but  to  present  a  truthful  and  sober  view  of  the 
actual  aspect  of  the  world,  and  of  the  forces  which 
are  at  war  against  the  progress  of  the  gospel.  It 
was  the  trumpet-call  of  the  veteran  who  had  fought 
his  battles  and  won  his  victories,  summoning  new 
recruits  to  the  holy  war,  and  uttering  loud  notes  of 
warning,  that  the  strife  was  by  no  means  ended ; 
that  there  are  many  and  fierce  battles  yet  to   fight. 


26  IS    THE    BIBLE    INSPIRED? 

and  that  others  must  take  up  the  weapons  which 
he  was  laying  down.  We  are  coming  now,  as  it 
would  seem,  to  the  culmination  of  the  struggle. 
The  battle  rages  around  the  citadel.  No  drones  or 
cowards  are  wanted  now." 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  man  who  for  half  a 
century  stood  as  the  leading  witness  for  the  truth 
in  America,  felt  constrained  to  sound  such  a  note  of 
warning  amid  his  last  public  utterances.  That  it 
was  a  needed  and  timely  note  has  been  plainly 
shown  by  the  current  of  events  since  his  departure 
to  be  with  the  Lord.  Professors  in  theological 
seminaries,  that  claim  to  be  evangelical,  have 
sought  to  tear  the  pentateuch  into  shreds,  denying 
in  the  face  of  Christ's  oft-repeated  testimony,  that 
Moses  was  its  human  author,  pretending  to  discover 
in  it  the  traces  of  many  writers  and  redactors  and 
sub-redactors,  and  asserting  with  amazing  effron- 
tery that  Deuteronomy  was  not  known  until  the 
time  of  King  Josiah,  nor  Leviticus  until  the  time 
of  Ezra.  Meanwhile  the  most  popular  preacher  in 
the  United  States  travels  through  the  country 
scouting  the  Bible  account  of  the  creation  of  man, 
whom  he  prefers  to  regard  as  a  developed  tadpole, 
denouncing  with  fierce  invective  the  God  of  the 
Calvinist,  and  denying  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked  in  the  future  world. 

All  such  men,  and  their  numbers  are  rapidly  in- 
creasing, are  in  secret  sympathy,  and  many  of 
them  in  confessed  sympathy  with  the  Unitarian 
Review  of  September,  1883,  which  boldly  says : 
^'  According  to  Unitarianism  man  judges  the  Bible. 
According  to  Orthodoxy  the  Bible  judges  man.     On 


MODERN   THEORIES    OF    INSPIRATION.  27 

this  point  everything  turns.  Newman  Smyth,  in 
a  moment  when  he  was  evidently  not  thinking  of 
denominational  barriers,  gave  expression  to  this 
sentiment :  '  When  Jesus  said,  Every  one  that  is  of 
the  truth  heareth  my  voice.  He  declared,  unequiv- 
ocally, that  the  sense  of  moral  truth  within  man  is 
the  test  of  revelation.'  .  .  .  Some  would  say.  The 
mind  of  the  Christ  is  the  testimony  to  truth,  but  how 
are  we  to  know  the  mind  of  the  Christ  ?  How  are  we 
to  discriminate  the  thought  of  Jesus  from  that  of 
Confucius  or  Rousseau,  except  by  the  exercise  of 
that  cultivated  and  inherited  moral  and  intellectual 
sense  which  is  the  birthright  of  our  race.  Let  us  be 
'consistent  on  this  point  of  the  authority  of  truth." 
For  brazen  impudence  and  self-conceit  this  is 
hard  to  surpass.  Each  man's  cultivated  and  in- 
herited moral  and  intellectual  sense  is  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  God's  word,  and  to  treat  it  as  his 
idea  of  truth  demands.  Ingersoll's  cultivated  and 
inherited  moral  and  intellectual  sense,  and  his  con- 
ception of  truth,  lead  him  to  pour  forth  a  torrent 
of  the  foulest  and  vilest  abuse  of  the  Bible  and  the 
Saviour ;  but  according  to  the  requirement  of  this 
Unitarian  Review  he  is  entirely  right.  What,  how- 
ever, is  to  be  the  final  judge  with  those  who  have  no 
cultivated  and  inherited  moral  and  intellectual 
sense,  the  mass  of  ruffians  who  furnish  an  unfailing 
supply  of  thieves  and  burglars  and  murderers,  and 
crowd  our  jails  and  state  prisons  ?  Of  course  we 
should  be  consistent  on  this  point  of  the  authority 
of  truth,  and  approve  their  conduct  when  they  spurn 
the  Bible  with  obscene  jest, and  honestly  believe  that 
they  have  a  right  to  prey  upon  their  fellow  men. 


28  IS   THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

If  the  sentiment  of  this  Review,  now  so  widely 
accepted  beyond  the  ranks  of  Unitarian  infidelity, 
is  correct,  and  every  man  is  left  to  decide  for  him- 
self what  in  the  Bible  is  worthy  of  respect,  and 
what  is  to  be  despised  as  error,  the  advice  of  Job's 
wife  to  her  distressed  husband  was  eminently  wise, 
for  we  can  do  no  better  thing  than  to  '^  curse  God 
and  die."  We  have  no  Bible,  or  at  least  a  Bible 
that  is  not  worth  a  straw.  What  one  man's  cul- 
tivated and  inherited  moral  and  intellectual  sense 
may  accept  as  reasonable,  and  according  to  his 
view  of  truth,  may  seem  to  another  absurd ;  and  so 
each  one  picks  out  the  little  that  may  suit  his  own 
appetite,  rejecting  all  the  rest. 

Alas  !  it  comes  to  this  :  Have  we  any  Bible  at 
all  ?  If  so,  is  it  inspired  ?  Is  all  of  it  inspired  ? 
Is  it  inspired  in  such  way  that  in  reading  its  words 
we  may  be  assured  we  are  reading  the  words  of  God? 
Can  we  rest  our  faith  and  our  hope  of  eternal  life 
upon  the  Scriptures,  the  very  writings,  as  perfectly 
truthful  and  free  from  error  in  their  narratives, 
their  doctrines  and  their  promises?  This  is  the 
question  which  it  is  proposed  to  discuss  by  consult-' 
ing  the  writings  to  see  what  they  say  of  themselves. 
Let  no  one  imagine  that  the  method  of  investigation 
here  adopted  is  a  begging  of  the  question,  for  the 
argument  is  not  addressed  to  the  infidel,  but  to 
those  who  already  believe  that  the  Bible  is  in  some 
way,  and  to  some  extent  at  least,  the  book  of  God. 
It  is  perfectly  proper,  therefore,  and  indeed,  it  is 
the  only  course  left  open  to  ask  what  the  book 
affirms  of  its  own  inspiration. 


III. 

THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  BOOKS 
AND  PSALMS  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

fHE  moment  we  open  the  Bible  the  eye  rests 
upon  the  words,  ''God  said."  These  words 
occur  ten  times  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  and 
the  same  words,  or  the  equivalent  expressions, 
''the  Lord  said,"  "God,"  or  "the  Lord  spake, 
saying,"  "thus  saith  the  Lord,"  "  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came,"  are  found  501  times  in  the  Pentateuch, 
292  times  in  the  historical  book  and  Psalms,  1111 
time  in  the  Prophets,  or  1904  times  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, besides  almost  innumerable  allusions  to 
the  words  contained  in  these  ancient  Scriptures,  as 
in  fact  the  words  of  Jehovah. 

It  is  undeniable  that  from  the  time  of  Moses  to 
the  time  ©f  Malachi,  those  who  claimed  to  be  the 
revealers  of  the  divine  will  usually  commence  the 
message,  which  they  declared  they  were  commis- 
sioned to  deliver,  with  some  such  preface  as  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord."  Then  follow  certain  words, 
sometimes  many  and  sometimes  few,  sometimes 
addressed  to  an  entire  nation,  sometimes  addressed 
to  a  group  or  family,  sometimes  addressed  to  in- 
dividuals ;  and  it  is  admitted  that  the  persons  utter- 
ing the  words  wished  them  to  be  understood  as 
directly  received  from  God  himself,  and  plainly 
declared  that  they  were  so  received.  There  is  not 
an  intimation  that  they  were  communicating  only 
the  thoughts  of  God,  or  that  they  were  giving  in 

29 


30  IS    THE    BIBLE    INSPIRED  ? 

substance  what  He  told  them  to  reveal,  but  there 
is  a  positive  assertion  that  they  were  repeating  the 
words  which  He  commanded  them  to  speak. 

The  question  at  once  arises,  were  these  men  mis- 
taken ?  Were  they  deceived?  Were  they  deceivers, 
coming  before  their  hearers  with  a  proclamation 
that  God  had  directed  them  to  make  certain  state- 
ments in  certain  forms  of  expression,  and  yet,  after 
all,  He  had  given  them  no  such  direction  ?  If  this 
be  so,  there  is  manifestly  an  end  of  the  Bible  and 
of  revelation,  and  not  one  of  their  statements  upon 
any  subject  can  be  worthy  of  the  slightest  credit. 
Very  frequently  they  used  words  touching  events 
that  were  still  in  the  future  when  they  spoke  or 
wrote,  and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  enter  into  the 
minutest  details  concerning  these  predicted  events, 
foretelling,  for  example,  the  very  name  of  Cyrus, 
the  precise  number  of  years  that  should  be  spent 
in  Egyptian  bondage  and  in  Babylonian  captivity, 
and  giving  more  than  one  hundred  particulars  with 
regard  to  the  birth,  life,  death  and  character  of  the 
promised  Messiah.  Later  Scriptures  affirm  that 
every  one  of  these  particulars  was  literally  fulfilled, 
and  if  these  later  Scriptures  tell  the  truth,  it  is 
evident  that  the  very  words  in  which  the  predictions 
were  made  must  have  been  communicated  to  the 
ancient  prophets.  Inspired  thoughts,  apart  from 
inspired  words,  could  have  been  of  no  force  in  the 
numerous  instances  of  this  kind  found  all  through 
the  Old  Testament. 

But  again,  there  are  very  many  artless  narratives 
purporting  to  give  accounts  of  personal  interviews 
between  the  Creator  and  his  creatures.     Thus  we 


HISTORICAL   BOOKS    AND    PSALMS.  31 

are  told  that  ''  the  Lord  God  commanded  the  man, 
saying,  Of  every  tree  of  the  garden  thou  mayest 
freely  eat,  but  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it,"  (Gen.  ii.  16,  17). 
"And  the  Lord  God  called  unto  Adam  and  said 
unto  him.  Where  art  thou?  .  .  .  And  the  Lord 
God  said  unto  the  woman,  What  is  this  that  thou 
hast  done  ?  (Gen.  iii.  9-13).  ''  And  the  Lord  said 
unto  Cain,  Where  is  Abel,  thy  brother  ?"  (Gen.  iv. 
9).  ''  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Noah,  Come  thou, 
and  all  thy  house,  into  the  ark,"  (Gen.  vii.  1). 
''And  the  Lord  appeared  unto  Abram  and  said, 
Unto  thy  seed  will  I  give  this  land,"  (Gen.  xii.  7). 
''And  when  Abram  was  ninety  years  old  and  nine 
the  Lord  appeared  to  Abram  and  said  unto  him,  I 
am  the  almighty  God ;  walk  before  me  and  be  thou 
perfect,"  (Gen.  xvii.  1).  The  same  directand per- 
sonal intercourse  between  God  and  man  addressing 
each  other  in  customary  converse  and  articulate 
human  speech  appears  in  almost  every  chapter  of 
Genesis,  embracing  a  period  of  about  2500  years  of 
the  world's  history. 

In  like  manner,  when  we  turn  to  Exodus,  we  see 
it  recorded  that  "  God  said  unto  Moses,  I  AM 
THAT  I  AM,"  (Ex.  iii.  14).  That  "afterward 
Moses  and  Aaron  went  in  and  told  Pharaoh,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,"  (Ex.  v.  1).  "  Then 
the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,"  (Ex.  vi.  1).  "And 
the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,"  (Ex.  vii.  1).  "And  the 
Lord  spake  unto  Moses,"  (Ex.  viii.  1).  "Then 
the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,"  (Ex.  ix.  1).  "  And  the 
Lord  said  unto  Moses,"  (Ex.  x.  1).  "And  the 
Lord  said   unto  Moses,"  (Ex.  xi.  1).     "  And  the 


32  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  Aaron  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  saying,"  (Ex.  xii.  1).  "And  the  Lord 
spake  unto  Moses,  saying,"  (Ex.  xiii.  1).  "Then 
said  the  Lord  unto  Moses,"  (Ex.  xvi.  4).  "And 
the  Lord  called  unto  him  out  of  the  mountain,  say- 
ing," (Ex.  xix.  3).  "And  God  spake  all  these 
words,  saying,  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  have 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the 
house  of  bondage,"  (Ex.  xx.  1,  2).  "  And  the 
tables  were  the  work  of  God,  and  the  writing  was 
the  writing  of  God,  graven  upon  the  tables,"  (Ex. 
xxxii.  16).  "  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses, 
face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend," 
(Ex.  xxxiii.  11). 

Is  all  this,  and  much  more  like  it,  true,  or  is  it 
false  ?  Did  Moses  and  others  only  imagine  that 
the  Lord  spoke  to  them,  or  did  they  pretend  that 
He  had  spoken  to  them  in  order  to  maintain  their 
power  by  the  appearance  of  divine  authority  and 
sanction  ?  Or  did  they  mean  that  He  did  not  speak 
to  them  but  merely  excited  their  thoughts  to  nobler 
conceptions  and  sublimer  aspirations,  so  that  their 
exalted  ideas  were  the  same  in  practical  effect  as  if 
He  had  spoken  in  actual  words  ?  If  there  is  any 
deception  or  delusion  about  it,  evidently  there  is 
nothing  in  the  Bible  upon  which  we  can  rest  with 
the  least  degree  of  certainty  and  confidence,  for  the 
writers  prove  themselves  to  be  impostors  or  fanat- 
ics, worthy  of  nothing  but  contempt ;  and  at  best 
we  are  left  to  vague  conjecture  as  to  the  value 
of  its  testimony  upon  any  subject.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  these  repeated  declarations  are  to  be  taken 
in  their  natural  and  obvious  import,  it  is  definitely 


HISTORICAL    BOOKS    AND    PSALMS.  33 

established  that  God  can  communicate  and  that 
He  has  communicated  not  only  His  thoughts  but 
His  words  to  men,  and  that  His  words  at  any  rate 
are  unquestionably  inspired. 

But  let  us  see  how  clearly  this  inspiration  of 
words,  when  uttered  by  His  commissioned  servants, 
is  proved  at  His  first  appearance  to  Moses,  who 
recoiled  from  the  task  which  was  set  before  him, 
and  "  said  unto  the  Lord,  O,  my  Lord,  I  am  not 
eloquent,  neither  heretofore  nor  since  thou  hast 
spoken  unto  thy  servant,  but  I  am  slow  of  speech 
and  of  a  slow  tongue .  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him , 
Who  hath  made  man's  mouth?  .  .  .  Now, 
therefore,  go  and  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth  and 
teach  thee  what  thou  shalt  say."  (Ex.  iv.  10-12). 
Here,  it  will  be  observed,  God  promises  to  be  not 
only  with  his  mind  but  with  his  mouth,  and  to  teach 
him  not  only  what  to  think  but  what  to  say.  He 
was  not  required  to  rely  upon  his  own  choice  or 
culture  for  the  selection  of  suitable  language  with 
which  he  was  to  address  the  Israelites  and  Pharoah  ; 
but  notwithstanding  his  lack  of  eloquence,  and 
although  he  was  slow  of  speech  and  of  a  slow  tongue, 
he  would  experience  no  difficulty  in  delivering  his 
message,  because  he  would  speak  what  his  divine 
Teacher  told  him  to  utter. 

Does  not  this  at  once  account  for  a  fact,  otherwise 
unaccountable,  that  the  same  Moses  who  "was 
very  meek  above  all  the  men  which  were  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth,"  afterward  said  to  the  children 
of  Israel,  ''Ye  shall  not  add  to  the  word  which  I 
command  you,  neither  shall  ye  diminish  ought 
from  it,"?  (Deut.  iv.  2).  Would  such  a  man  assert 
3 


34  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

such  a  claim  for  the  value,  the  sacredness,  the  im- 
mutable perfection  of  the  least  word,  unless  he  knew 
that  it  was  not  his  word  but  God's  ?  Again  he  says, 
"  These  words  which  I  command  thee  this  day- 
shall  be  in  thine  heart ;  and  thou  shalt  teach  them 
diligently  unto  thy  children,  and  shalt  talk  of  them 
when  thou  sittest  in  thine  house,  and  when  thou 
walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou  liest  down,  and 
when  thou  risest  up.  And  thou  shalt  bind  them 
for  a  sign  upon  thine  hand,  and  they  shall  be  as 
frontlets  between  thine  eyes.  And  thou  shalt  WTite 
them  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house  and  on  thy  gates," 
(Deut.  vi.  6-9). 

Surely  they  were  not  the  words'  of  Moses  alone 
which  were  exalted  to  this  place  of  supreme  ex- 
cellence and  of  divine  authority,  and  of  vital  moment 
to  the  present  and  eternal  interests  of  the  people 
and  their  children,  and  which  led  the  man,  who 
had  long  before  renounced  all  ambition,  to  repeat 
the  solemn  warning,  "  What  thing  soever  I  com- 
mand you,  observe  to  do  it ;  thou  shalt  not  add 
thereto,  nor  diminish  from  it,"  (Deut.  xii.  82). 
He  remembered  the  promise  of  God  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  painful  and  self-denying  work, 
''  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth  and  teach  thee  what 
thou  shalt  say;"  and  he  knew  that  the  words  he 
uttered  were  the  words  of  God,  which  man  must 
not  seek  to  improve,  nor  to  change  in  the  least 
syllable  or  letter.  Among  the  last  acts  of  his  sorely 
tried  and  toilsome  life,  he  "  made  an  end  of  writing 
the  words  of  this  law,"  [that  is,  as  contained  in  the 
Pentateuch,]  "  and  put  it  in  the  side  of  the  ark  of  the 
covenant   of  the  Lord"  as  an  inspired  witness   of 


HISTORICAL   BOOKS   AND    PSALMS.  35 

God's  truth,  (Deut.  xxxi.  24).  We  must  conclude 
with  the  lowest  of  infidels  that  Moses  was  a  cun- 
ning and  cruel  trickster  who  played  upon  the  super- 
stition of  his  brethren,  or  we  must  acknowledge 
that  his  words  were  given  by  inspiration  of  God. 

There  is  another  man  mentioned  in  the  Penta- 
teuch who  was  unlike  Moses  in  every  respect. 
This  was  Balaam,  "  who  loved  the  wages  of  un- 
righteousness," and  who  was  willing  enough  to 
curse  Israel  for  the  sake  of  the  reward  offered  by 
Balak,  King  of  Moab.  The  monarch  was  impatient 
with  the  prophet  for  so  long  delaying  to  obey  his 
summons,  not  knowing  that  words  had  been  put 
into  the  mouth  even  of  a  dumb  ass  to  rebuke  that 
prophet  for  his  madness,  ''and  Balak  said  unto 
Balaam,  Did  I  not  earnestly  send  unto  thee  to  call 
thee  ?  Wherefore  camest  thou  not  unto  me  ?  Am 
I  not  able  indeed  to  promote  thee  to  honor  ?  And 
Balaam  said  unto  Balak,  Lo,  I  am  come  unto  thee  ; 
have  I  any  power  at  all  to  say  anything?  The 
word  that  God  putteth  in  my  mouth  that  shall  I 
speak,"  (Num.  xxii.  37,  38).  He  did  not  say  the 
thought  that  God  putteth  in  my  mind,  but  the 
word  that  God  putteth  in  my  mouth ;  and  the  sub- 
sequent part  of  the  narrative  shows  that  he  uttered 
words  he  did  not  wish  to  utter — words  he  was  com- 
pelled to  pronounce  in  obedience  to  a  mightier  and 
an  irresistible  power — words  that  condemned  him- 
self—words that  foretell  his  doom  at  the  second 
coming  of  Christ  as  he  exclaims,  *'  I  shall  see  him 
but  not  now  ;  I  shall  behold  him  but  not  nigh" — 
words  that  reach  on  to  the  final  catastrophe  at  the 
close  of  the  present   dispensation,    causing  him  to 


36  IS    THE   BIBLE    INSPIRED  ? 

cry  out  in  terror  :  "  Alas,  who  shall  live  when  God 
doeth  this  ?"  It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  whether 
the  words  of  the"  true  prophets  were  or  were  not  in- 
spired, the  words  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  ass, 
and  the  words  of  the  false  prophet  were  inspired, 
for  he  was  the  unwilling  medium  of  their  utterance. 
So  it  was  in  the  historical  books,  when  Saul  sent 
messengers  to  take  David,  and  ''the  Spirit  of  God 
was  upon  the  messengers  of  Saul,  and  they  also 
prophesied.  And  when  it  was  told  Saul  he  sent 
other  messengers,  and  they  prophesied  likewise. 
And  Saul  sent  messengers  again  the  third  time,  and 
they  prophesied  also.  Then  went  he  also  to 
Ramah,  .  .  .  and  the  Spirit  of  God  was  upon 
him  also,"  (1  Sam.  xix.  20-23).  Clearly  it  is  not  a 
question  here  of  inspired  thoughts,  but  of  words 
that  flowed  from  lips  subject  to  the  external  and 
overpowering  will  of  the  Holy  Spirit  like  the  keys 
of  an  instrument  under  a  master  hand,  compelling 
them  to  yield  the  sound  he  wishes  them  to  produce. 
Or  look  again  at  the  old  prophet  of  Bethel,  who  in- 
vited the  prophet  of  Judah  to  eat  bread  with  him. 
The  latter  had  been  charged  by  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  saying.  Eat  no  bread  nor  drink  water  in  the 
land  under  Jeroboam's  rule  ;  but  he  yielded  to  the 
entreaty  and  accepted  the  invitation  of  his  brother. 
''  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  sat  at  the  table,  that 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  the  prophet  that 
brought  him  back,  and  he  cried  unto  the  man  of 
God  that  came  from  Judah,  saying.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,"  and  then  immediately  announced  the  doom 
of  his  guest,  although  not  wishing  to  speak  what 
\       he  was  compelled  to  say,  (1  Kings  xiii.  20).     These 


HISTORICAL    BOOKS    A>'D    PSALMS.  37 

will  doubtless  be  accepted  by  all  Christians  as 
proofs  and  examples  of  verbal  inspiration,  but  they 
are  not  more  remarkable  than  the  fact  that  the  Lord 
spoke  to  the  child  Samuel  words,  the  very  meaning 
of  which  the  child  could  not  fully  understand,  or 
the  fact  that  '^  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
Nathan,"  (1  Sam.  iii.  11 ;  2  Sam.  vii.  4),  or  many 
similar  facts  recorded  in  the  same  books. 

Among  the  last  words  of  David  we  have  the  foU 
lowing  striking  testimony  :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
spake  by  me,  and  His  word  was  in  my  tongue," 
(2  Sam.  xxiii.  2).  He  does  not  say,  The  spirit  of 
the  Lord  thought  by  me,  but  spake  by  me;  nor 
does  he  say,  the  truth  of  God  was  in  my  mind,  but 
His  word  was  in  my  tongue.  That  is,  what  he  spake, 
he  spake  as  the  mouth-piece  of  the  Spirit,  and  the 
word  which  his  tongue  proclaimed  was  the  word  of 
God.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  scattered 
through  the  Psalms  such  strong  expressions  as  these: 
''  The  words  of  the  Lord  are  pure  words,  as  silver  ^ 
tried  in  a  furnace  of  earth,  purified  seven  times," 
(Ps.  xii.  6).  "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  con- 
verting the  soul ;  the  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure, 
making  wise  the  simple  ;  the  statutes  of  the  Lord 
are  right,  rejoicing  the  heart;  the  commandment 
of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlightening  the  eyes,"  (Ps. 
xix.  7,  8).  "  Forever  O  Lord,  thy  word  is  settled 
in  heaven."  '^  Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet, 
and  a  light  unto  my  path."  '*  The  entrance  of  thy 
words  giveth  light."  "  Thy  word  is  true  from  the 
beginning,"  or  as  Dr.  Clark  renders  it,  '^  true  from 
the  first  word,"  (Ps.  cxix.).  "  Thou  hast  magnified 
thy  word  above  all  thy  name,"  or  above  any  other 


<l 


38  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

manifestation  of  the  divine  character  in  creation, 
reason  and  science,  (Ps.  cxxxviii.  2).  There  is  one 
Psahn  containing  176  verses,  and  the  word  of  God 
under  some  one  of  its  various  precious  titles  is  men- 
tioned in  each  of  these,  exgept  one  verse,  and  men- 
tioned in  such  terms  of  praise,  as  so  incomparable 
in  its  excellence,  as  so  manifold  in  its  perfections, 
as  so  unerring  in  its  guidance,  as  so  adapted  to  all 
the  need  of  all  humble  souls,  it  is  simply  impossible 
to  regard  it  as  the  word  of  any  man  or  men  ;  and  it 
is  simply  impossible  that  the  writer  who  said  of 
himself,  "  Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in 
sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me,"  could  have 
claimed  such  high  authority  for  his  own  command- 
ments, and  exhibited  such  profound  reverence  for 
his  own  words. 

Long  after  David's  day,  the  view  of  inspiration 
that  still  prevailed  among  God's  people  is  shown 
in  the  prayer  of  Nehemiah  :  "Thou  camest  down 
also  upon  Mount  Sinai,  and  spakest  with  them 
from  heaven."  ..."  Thou  gavest  also  thy 
good  Spirit  to  instruct  them."  ..."  Many 
years  didst  thou  forbear  them,  and  testifiedst  against 
them  by  thy  Spirit  in  the  prophets,"  (Neh.  ix.  13, 
20,  30).  The  testimony  against  Israel  through  the 
whole  of  their  previous  history,  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years,  is  here  declared  to  have  been  the 
testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  God's  prophets, 
and  as  this  book  is  the  last  but  one  in  the  canon  of 
Old  Testament  Scriptures,  Nehemiah  becomes  an 
important  witness  for  the  truth,  that  the  words 
which  his  forefathers  had  heard,  were  divinely  in- 
spired.    In  the  old  book  of  Job,  that  takes  us  back 


HISTORICAL    BOOKS    AND    PSALMS.  39 

to  a  time  preceeding  all  known  human  history, 
Elihu,  who  is  evidently  a  type  of  Christ,  and  who 
says  to  Job,  ''  Behold,  I  am  according  to  thy  wish 
in  God's  stead,"  begins  his  remarkable  address 
with  the  statement,  "  There  is  a  spirit  in  man  ;  and 
the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  giveth  them  under- 
standing," (Job  xxxii.  8).  Albert  Barnes  well 
says,  "  This  evidently  refers  to  a  spirit  imparted 
from  above  ;  a  spirit  from  the  Almighty.  The  par- 
allelism seems  to  require  this,  for  it  responds  to 
the  phrase,  '  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty'  in  the 
other  hemistich.  The  Hebrew  expression  here  also 
seems  to  require  this  interpretation.  It  is,  the 
Sjnrit  Himself;  meaning  the  very  Spirit  that  gives 
wisdom,  or  the  spirit  of  inspiration.  .  .  .  The 
word  '  spirit '  here,  therefore,  refers  to  the  Spirit 
which  God  gives,  and  the  passage  is  a  proof  that  it 
was  an  early  opinion  that  certain  men  were  under 
the  teachings  of  divine  inspiration." 

Thus  all  through  the  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  from  first  to  last,  there  is  a  claim  by 
those  who  were  commissioned  to  speak  in  God's 
name,  that  they  spoke  the  words  of  God,  and  their 
words  were  received  or  rejected  as  the  words  of  God. 

The  woman  of  Zarephath  said  to  Elijah,  ''Now 
by  this  I  know  that  thou  art  a  man  of  God,  and 
that  the  word  of  the  Lord  in  thy  mouth  is  truth.  " 
(1  Kings  xvii.  24).  Of  Zedekiah  it  is  said,  ''He  did 
that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  his  God, 
and  humbled  not  himself  before  Jeremiah  the  pro- 
phet speaking  from  the  mouth  of  the  Lord," 
(2  Chron.  xxxvi.  12).  Similar  allusions  to  verbal 
inspiration,  found  in  every  part  of  these  books,  are 


40  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

too  numerous  to  mention  ;  and  every  one  who  knows 
how  untrustworthy  is  human  history,  especially  in 
its  details,  and  how  difficult  it  is  to  find  two  wit- 
nesses, perhaps  equally  intelligent  and  conscien- 
tious, precisely  agreeing  about  a  simple  question 
of  fact,  will  at  once  recognize  the  necessity  for 
verbal  inspiration  in  the  narratives  of  the  Bible,  as 
well  as  in  its  doctrinal  and  prophetical  teachings. 
It  has  already  been  seen  that,  no  matter  in  what 
form  the  message  has  been  delivered  or  the  story 
recorded,  the  messenger  from  God  spoke  or  wrote 
words  that  came  from  God  through  human  lips  and 
pens  ;  and  it  is  for  this  reason  alone  such  power  is 
ascribed  to  the  word,  and  such  care  is  taken  to 
guard  it  against  the  rash  intrusion  and  profane 
tampering  of  uninspired  critics.  ''  When  thou 
goest  it  shall  lead  thee  ;  when  thou  sleepest,  it  shall 
keep  thee  ;  and  when  thou  awakest,  it  shall  talk 
fj  with  thee."  '' Every  word  of  God  is  pure;  .  . 
add  thou  not  unto  his  words,  lest  he  reprove  thee, 
and  thou  be  found  a  liar,"  (Prov.  vi.  22  ;  xxx.  5,  6). 


\ 


IV. 

THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL 
BOOKS  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

HEN  we  come  to  the  prophecies,  every  vestige 
of  doubt  concerning  verbal  inspiration  must 
be  removed  from  the  minds  of  all  who  are  in  any- 
wise subject  to  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
who  possess  a  common  degree  of  intelligence.  Even 
those  who  hold  that  there  are  different  kinds  of  in- 
spiration, and  those  who  hold  that  only  the  thoughts 
of  the  writers  were  inspired,  have  been  constrained 
to  admit  that  here,  at  least,  the  words  are  inspired. 
'In  the  language  of  Robert  Haldane,  one  of  the 
noblest  men,  by  the  way,  God  has  ever  given  to 
His  church,  "  The  words  that  are  used  in  the  pro- 
phetical parts  of  Scripture,  must  neccessarily  have 
been  communicated  to  the  prophets.  They  did 
not  always  comprehend  the  meaning  of  their  own 
predictions,  into  which  they  '  searched  diligently.' 
And  in  this  case,  it  was  impossible  that,  unless  the 
words  had  been  dictated  to  them,  they  could  have 
written  intelligibly.  Although  they  had  written 
the  Scriptures,  it  was  necessary  to  show-  them 
'that  which  is  noted  in  the  Scripture  of  truth,' 
(Dan.  X.  21).  The  writings  of  the  prophets  con- 
stitute a  great  portion  of  the  Old  Testament  Scrip- 
tures, and  God  claims  it  as  His  sole  prerogative, 
to  know  the  things  that  are  to  come.  ^  We  are 
therefore,  certain  that  they  enjoyed  verbal  inspira- 
tion;  and,  as  we  have    not  anywhere    a  hint   of 

41 


42  IS   THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

different  kinds  of  inspiration  by  which  the  Scrip- 
tures are  written,  does  it  not  discover  the  most 
presumptuous  arrogance  to  assert  that  there  are  dif- 
ferent kinds  ?" 

To  the  same  effect  Gaussen,  the  able  and  distin- 
guished Professor  of  Systematic  Theology  in  Gen- 
eva, says  :  '^  This  theory  of  a  divine  revelation,  in 
which  you  would  have  the  inspiration  of  the  thoughts 
without  the  inspiration  of  the  language,  is  so  in- 
evitably irrational  that  it  cannot  be  sincere,  and 
proves  false  even  to  those  who  propose  it ;  for, 
without  their  suspecting  it,  it  makes  them  come 
much  further  down  in  their  arguments  than  their 
first  position  seems  at  first  glance  to  indicate. 
Listen  to  them.  Though  the  words  are  those  of 
man,  say  they,  the  thoughts  are  those  of  God. 
And  how  will  tjiey  prove  this  to  you  ?  Alas  I  once 
more,  by  attributing  to  this  Scripture  from  God, 
contradictions,  mistakes,  proofs  of  ignorance  1  Is 
it  then  the  words  alone  they  attack  ?  And  are  not 
these  alleged  errors  much  more  in  the  ideas  than 
in  the  words  ?  So  true  it  is  that  we  cannot  separate 
the  one  from  the  other,  and  that  a  revelation  of 
God's  thoughts,  ever  demands  a  revelation  of  God^s 
words  also. 

^'  This  theory  is  not  only  antibiblical,  irrational, 
and  mischievous  ;  further,  it  is  taken  up  arbitrarily, 
and  amounts  at  best  to  a  gratuitous  hypothesis. 

^'  Besides,  it  is  very  useless  ;  for  it  resolves  no 
difiiculty.  You  find  it  difiicult,  say  you,  to  con- 
ceive how  the  Holy  Ghost  could  have  given  the 
words  in  Holy  Scripture  ;  but  can  you  tell  us  any 
better,  how  He  gave  the  thoughts?     .     .     .     But 


THE   PROPHETICAL    BOOKS.  43 

we  have  much  more  to  say  than  this.  That  which 
in  this  theory  ought,  above  all,  to  strike  every  at- 
tentive mind,  is  its  extreme  inconsistency,  seeing 
that  those  even,  who  hold  it  most  strenuously,  are 
forced  withal  to  admit  that,  in  its  greatest  part,  the 
Scripture  behoved  to  be  inspired  to  the  men  of 
God,  even  in  its  ivords.^'  The  italics  in  both  of 
these  extracts  are  the  authors'. 

Turning,  then  to  the  prophets,  and  following  the 
order  observed  in  our  English  Bible,  we  find  Isaiah 
saying,  '^  Hear,  0  heavens  ;  and  give  ear  O  earth  ; 
for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  ;"  "  Hear  the  word  of  the 
Lord,"(i.  2-10);  ''Also  I  heard  the  voice  of  the 
Lord,  saying,  whom  shall  I  send,  and  who  will  go 
for  us  ?"  (vi.  8)  ;  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,"  (vii. 
7)  ;  "  For  the  Lord  spake  thus  to  me,"  (viii.  11)  ; 
"  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  hosts,"  (x. 
24)  ;  and  everywhere  in  the  prophecy,  God  is  rep- 
resented as  speaking,  using  the  personal  pronoun, 
"I,"  and  predicting  future  events  with  a  minute- 
ness and  particularity,  which  make  the  suggestion 
of  the  very  words,  in  which  the  predicted  events 
are  announced,  absolutely  essential  to  the  commu- 
nication of  the  divine  purpose. 

Jeremiah  begins  his  prophecy  by  informing  us 
that,  like  Moses,  he  pleaded  for  release  from  the 
painful  and  perilous  mission  which  lay  before  him. 
"  Then  said  I,  Ah  !  Lord  God !  behold,  I  cannot 
speak  ;  for  I  am  a  child.  But  the  Lord  said  unto 
me,  say  not,  I  am  a  child ;  for  thou  shalt  go  to  all 
that  I  shall  send  thee,  and  whatsoever  I  command 
thee  thou  shalt  speak.  .  .  .  Then  the  Lord  put 
forth  his  hand,  and  touched  my  mouth.     And  the 


y 


vi 


44  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

Lord  said  unto  me,  Behold,  I  have  put  my  words 
in  thy  mouth,"  (i.  6-9).  It  is  impossible  to  teach 
the  doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration,  unless  it  is  dis- 
tinctly set  forth  in  these  verses.  God  said  to  the 
trembling  prophet,  ''  I  have  put  my  words  in  thy 
mouth,"  and  this  at  once  made  the  child  a  man 
and  relieved  him  of  all  responsibility,  except  to 
repeat  as  a  child  the  words  ofanother,  and  a  Greater. 
"Moreover,  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me, 
saying:"  ''Then  said  the  Lord  unto  me;"  ''And 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me  the  second  time, 
saying;"  "  Then  the  Lord  said  unto  me  ;"  "I  am 
with  thee,  saith  the  Lord;"  "Moreover,  the  word 
of  the  Lord  came  to  me,  saying  ,"  "  Thus  saith  the 
Lord;"  "Evil  shall  come  upon  them,  saith  the 
Lord  ;"  "  Hear  ye  the  word  of  the  Lord  ;"  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord;"  "  I  will  yet  plead  with  you,  saith 
the  Lord ;"  "  Be  ye  very  desolate,  saith  the  Lord ;" 
"  My  fear  is  not  in  thee,  saith  the  Lord  God  of 
hosts;"  "Thine  iniquity  is  marked  bofore  me, 
saith  the  Lord  God;"  "Ye  all  have  transgressed 
against  me,  saith  the  Lord;"  "0  generation,  see 
ye  the  word  of  the  Lord." 

These  expressions  are  all  taken  from  the  first  two 
chapters  of  the  prophecy,  and  they  occur  at  brief 
intervals,  sometimes  at  the  beginning  and  the  end 
of  a  single  verse,  or  a  short  paragraph,  through  the 
entire  book.  How  much  is  involved  in  them  is 
clearly  expressed  in  the  declaration  of  Jehovah 
Himself,  "  The  prophet  that  hath  a  dream,  let  him 
tell  a  dream ;  and  he  that  hath  my  word,  let  him 
speak  my  word  faithfully.  What  is  the  chaff  to  the 
wheat?  saith   the  Lord.     Is  not  my  word  like   a 


THE    PROPHETICAL    BOOKS.  45 

hammer  that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces  ?  .  .  . 
Behold,  I  am  against  the  prophets,  saith  the  Lord, 
that  use  [margin,  smooth]  their  tongues,  and  say. 
He  saith"  (xxiii.  28-31).  The  difference  between 
inspired  and  uninspired  words  is  the  difference 
there  is  between  chaff  and  wheat ;  and  here  there 
is  the  strongest  affirmation  that  the  words  of  true 
prophets  were  the  very  words  of  God. 

The  next  prophecy  opens  with  the  announcement, 
^'The  word  of  the  Lord  came  expressly  unto 
Ezekiel  the  priest,"  (i.  3)  ;  ''  Thou  shalt  speak  my  ^y 
words  unto  them,  whether  they  will  hear,  or 
whether  they  will  forbear,"  (ii.  7) ;  '^  And  he  said 
unto  me,  Son  of  man,  go,  get  thee  unto  the  house 
of  Israel,  and  speak  with  my  words  unto  them," 
(iii.  4)  ;  and  the  phrases,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord," 
^'  The  word  of  the  Lord  came,"  ''  Hear  the  word  of 
the  Lord,"  occur  nearly  two  hundred  times.  Are 
we  to  make  nothing  of  all  this  ?  Does  it  mean 
nothing?  Are  foolish  men  at  liberty  to  imagine 
that  the  Lord  said  nothing,  that  the  word  of  the 
Lord  did  not  come  to  the  prophet,  that  the  people 
did  not  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  but  only  caught 
at  His  thought  as  expressed  in  the  bungling  lan- 
guage of  mortals  ?  Surely  Christians  should  be  on 
their  guard  against  the  acceptance  of  a  wretched 
theory,  however  sanctioned  by  respected  names, 
which  make  these  emphatic  and  oft  repeated  tes- 
timonies to  verbal  inspiration  of  no  force  or  effect. 

Daniel  was  a  diligent  student  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  he  ''understood  by  books  the  number  of  the 
years,  whereof  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Jere- 
miah   the    prophet,    that    he    would    accomplish 


■y 


J 


46  IS   THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

seventy  years  in  the  desolations  of  Jerusalem.'* 
In  his  prayer  contained  in  the  same  chapter,  he  con- 
fessed that  God  ''hath  confirmed  His  words  which 
He  spake  against  us,  and  against  our  judges  that 
judged  us,  by  bringing  upon  us  a  great  evil,"  thus 
witnessing  that  it  was  the  word  of  the  Lord  which 
came  to  Jeremiah,  and  that  God  had.  confirmed, 
not  man's  words,  but  His  own  words.  At  the  close 
of  his  prophecy,  which  sweeps  over  all  intervening 
time  to  the  second  advent  of  Christ,  and  embraces 
the  rise  and  fall  of  the  world's  great  empires,  he 
says,  ''  I  heard,  but  I  understood  not ;  then  said  I, 
0  my  Lord,  What  shall  be  the  end  of  these  things  ? 
And  he  said,  Go  thy  way,  Daniel ;  for  the  words 
are  closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end." 
From  this  it  is  evident  that  Daniel  did  not  under- 
stand the  mighty  scope  and  significance  of  his  own 
predictions.  Hence  is  it  not  true  that  the  thoughts 
were  always  inspired ;  it  is  not  true  that  the 
prophets  or  the  apostles  were  always  inspired; 
but,  blessed  be  God,  it  is  true  that  their  word  or 
writings,  when  delivered  by  them  as  His  ambas- 
sadors, were,  and  are,  always  divinely,  infallibly 
and  perfectly  inspired. 

Even  if  time  and  space  permitted,  there  is  little 
need  of  a  minute  examination  of  the  remaining 
prophets.  Every  one  of  them,  without  a  single  ex- 
ception, bears  the  same  testimony  to  the  inspiration 
of  the  words  uttered  or  written  in  their  messages. 
Hosea  says,  ''  The  word  of  the  Lord  that  came  unto 
Hosea ;  .  .  .  the  beginning  of  the  word  of  the 
Lord  by  Hosea,"  (Hos.  i.  1,  2).  Joel  says,  "  The 
word  of  the  Lord  that  came  to  Joel,"  (Joel  i.  1). 


THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  47 

Amos  says,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord;"  ''  Hear  this 
word  that  the  Lord  hath  spoken  against  you,  O 
children  of  Israel,"  (Amos  ii.  1 ;  iii.  1).  Obadiah 
says,  ''Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,"  (Obad.  1). 
Jonah  says,  "  Now  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
Jonah,"  (Jonah  i.  1).  Micah  says,  ''  The  word  of 
the  Lord  that  came  to  Micah,"  (Mic.  i.  1).  "  But 
truly  I  am  full  of  power  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord, 
and  of  judgment,  and  of  might,  to  declare  unto 
Jacob  his  sin,"  (Mic.  iii.  8).  Nahum  says,  ''  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,"  (Nah.  i.  12).  Habakkuk  says, 
''  The  Lord  answered  me,  and  said,"  (Hab.  ii.  2). 
Zephaniah  says,  ''The  word  of  the  Lord  which 
came  unto  Zephaniah,"  (Zeph.  i.  1).  Haggai  says, 
"  In  the  first  day  of  the  month  came  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  by  Haggai  the  prophet ;  .  .  .  thus 
speaketh  the  Lord  of  hosts,  saying,"  (Hag.  i.  1-2). 
Zechariah  says,  "  In  the  second  year  of  Darius, 
came  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Zechariah ;  .  . 
therefore  say  thou  unto  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,"  (Zech.  i.  1-3).  "And  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came  unto  Zechariah,  saying.  Thus  speaketh 
the  Lord  of  hosts,  saying.  .  .  .  But  they  re- 
fused to  hearken  and  pulled  away  the  shoulder, 
and  stopped  their  ears,  that  they  should  not  hear. 
Yea,  they  made  their  hearts  as  an  adamant  stone, 
lest  they  should  hear  the  law,  and  THE  WORDS 
WHICH  THE  LORD  OF  HOSTS  HATH  SENT 
IN  HIS  SPIRIT  BY  THE  FORMER  PROPHETS  : 
therefore  came  there  a  great  wrath  from  the  Lord 
of  hosts,"  (Zech.  vii.  8-12).  Again  it  may  be  said, 
if  this  does  not  teach  verbal  inspiration,  it  cannot 
be  taught  in  human  language.     Malachi  says,  "  The 


J 


48  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

burden  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  Israel  by  Malachi. 
I  have  loved  you,  saith  the  Lord,"  (Mai.  i.  1.  2)  ; 
and  twenty-four  times  in  the  prophecy  of  four 
short  chapters  we  find  the  phrase,  ''Thus  saith 
the  Lord." 

This  by  no  means  exhausts  the  argument  for  the 
verbal  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  enough 
has  been  said  to  convince  any  mind  that  has  not 
resolved  to  reject  the  truth. 

The  internal  evidences  of  such  an  inspiration 
have  not  been  touched,  and  these  are  not  less 
weighty  than  the  external.  For  example,  the 
writers  of  the  ancient  Scriptures  were  all  Jews,  and 
can  any  one  believe  that  they  would  have  presented 
so  humiliating  a  history  of  their  countrymen  un- 
less the  language  had  been  dictated  to  them  ?  The 
narrative  they  furnish  of  their  own  nation  for  a 
period  of  more  than  a  thousand  years  is  an  almost 
continuous  record  of  unbelief,  rebellion,  vile  apos- 
tacy,  and  shameful  idolatry.  Not  only  so,  but  the 
failures  and  sins  of  their  greatest  men,  as  they 
would  now  be  called,  are  faithfully  related,  and  all 
the  world  knows  to-day  of  Abraham's  twice-told 
falsehood,  of  Moses'  anger  and  disobedience,  of 
David's  adultery  and  murder,  of  Elijah's  fear  and 
despair.  The  mere  inspiration  of  thoughts  will 
not  account  for  facts  like  these,  for  if  the  words  had 
not  been  dictated  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  facts 
would  have  been  suppressed ;  and  as  we  contrast 
the  unflinching  fidelity  of  these  Jews,  notwith- 
standing their  peculiar  and  passionate  love  of  their 
country  and  their  countrymen,  with  any  uninspired 
history  or  biography,  well  may  we  ask  with  one  of 


THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  49 

their  own  writers,  "And  is  this  the  manner  of  man, 
0  Lord  God?"  (2  Sam.  vii.  19). 

But  it  is  another  striking  feature  of  these  old 
books,  so  strangely  faithful  to  the  truth,  that  the 
penmen,  although  living  long  before  the  discoveries 
of  modern  science,  have  fallen  into  no  blunders, 
even  of  language,  touching  any  really  proved  and 
accepted  results  of  scientific  investigation.  This 
is  a  bold  assertion,  but  instead  of  entering  now 
upon  a  discussion  of  it,  which  would  be  out  of 
place,  it  may  be  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  most 
learned  and  scientific  men  of  the  world,  as  Dr. 
Samuel  Johnson,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Hugh  Miller, 
Dr.  Pye  Smith,  Sir  Roderic  Murchison,  Faraday, 
Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  Sir  James  Simpson,  the  Duke 
of  Argyll,  and  scores  of  others,  were  or  are  devout 
Christians,  some  of  them  holding  the  highest  views 
of  a  plenary  and  verbal  inspiration,  and  finding,  in 
their  profound  acquaintance  with  science,  nothing 
whatever  to  contradict  these  views.  But  it  is  a 
still  more  suggestive  fact  that  at  the  meeting  of  the 
British  Association  in  1865  a  manifesto  was  drawn  up 
and  signed  by  617  scientific  men,  most  of  whom 
were  of  the  highest  eminence,  as  shown  by  the  long 
list  of  honorary  titles  attached  to  their  names  ;  and 
these  men,  including  Dr.  Balfour,  Bentley,  Bos- 
worth,  Sir  David  Brewster,  Macleod,  Sir  John 
Richardson,  and  others  of  equal  distinction,  de- 
clare their  belief  not  only  in  the  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures,  but  in  the  perfect  harmony  of  these 
Scriptures  with  natural  science.  The  original  docu- 
ment is  now  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford, 
and  it  begins  with  the  following  declaration  : 
4 


50  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

"We,  the  undersigned  students  of  the  natural 
sciences,  desire  to  express  our  sincere  regret  that 
researches  into  scientific  truth  are  perverted  by  some 
in  our  own  times  into  occasion  for  casting  doubt 
upon  the  truth  and  authenticity  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures. 

"  We  conceive  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  word 
of  God  fts  written  in  the  book  of  nature,  and  God's 
written  word  written  in  Holy  Scripture,  to  contra- 
dict one  another,  however  much  they  may  appear 
to  differ. 

"  We  are  not  forgetful  that  physical  science  is 
not  complete,  but  is  only  in  a  condition  of  progress, 
and  that  at  present  our  finite  reason  enables  us 
only  to  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  and  we  con- 
fidently believe  that  a  time  will  come  when 
the  two  records  will  be  seen  to  agree  in  every 
particular." 

These  617  scientific  men,  then,  can  find  nothing 
even  in  the  words  of  Scripture  to  contradict  any 
known  facts  of  the  present  day  ;  and  some  of  them, 
in  the  printed  catalogue  of  their  names,  require 
five  and  six,  and  Sir  David  Brewster  requires 
eleven,  lines  of  small  type  to  give  in  abbreviated 
form  the  names  of  the  various  learned  societies  and 
scientific  associations  of  which  they  are  members. 
It  becomes  young  men  and  women,  therefore,  if 
they  would  escape  the  ridicule  of  sensible  persons 
and  the  wrath  of  God,  to  pause  and  consider  before 
accepting  the  second-hand  ribaldry  of  infidels,  or 
the  impudent  statements  of  half-fledged  scientists. 
They  might  learn  a  valuable  lesson  from  the  old 
Christian  who   replied,  when  asked  by  a  youth  of 


THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  51 

soft  moustache  and  softer  head  how  he  reconciled 
the  language  of  the  Bible  with  the  most  recent  dis- 
coveries of  science,  "What  are  the  most  recent 
discoveries  of  science  ?  I  have  not  read  the  morn- 
ing papers." 

The  more  the  ancient  Scriptures  are  studied,  the 
more  certainly  will  the  honest  reader  be  constrained 
to  admit  that  man  could  as  easily  have  made  the 
world  as  he  could  have  conceived  and  recorded 
these  writings.  There  is  not  a  word  used  at  hap- 
hazard, but  there  is  the  most  precise  accuracy  of 
expression,  the  most  suitable  selections  of  language 
to  convey  the  meaning  intended,  the  most  careful 
reference  to  the  use  of  the  right  tense  of  every  verb, 
and  to  every  little  particle.  Much  of  this  is  neces- 
sarily lost  or  obscured  in  imperfect  translations  ; 
but  the  most  moderate  acquaintance  with  the 
original  will  bring  to  light  on  every  page  such  nice 
distinction^,  such  delicate  shades  of  meaning,  such 
pains-taking  and  suggestive  choice  of  phraseology, 
that  the  Bible  student  will  again  and  again  be  over- 
whelmed with  amazement  and  awe,  and  reverently 
acknowledge  that  he  holds  in  his  hands  the  very 
words  of  God  Himself. 

It  is  true  that  in  a  few  instances  there  are  words 
which  coarse  and  vulgar  infidelity  has  pronounced 
to  be  indecent  and  unfit  to  be  read  in  polite  society ; 
but  it  is  strange  that  coarse  and  vulgar  infidelity 
does  not  inquire,  in  the  first  place,  whether  this 
may  not  be  due  to  the  translators,  and,  in  the 
second  place,  whether  these  words  were  considered 
indecent  by  polite  society  at  the  time  the  English 
translation  of  the  Bible  was  made.     There  is  noth- 


52  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

ing  indecent  in  the  words  themselves,  nothing  im- 
proper except  by  the  changing  customs  and  usage 
of  the  world ;  and  if  coarse  and  vulgar  infidelity 
was  as  intelligent  as  it  pretends  to  be,  it  would 
know  that  these  words  were  freely  employed  by  the 
best  and  most  classic  English  writers  in  the  days  of 
King  James. 

It  is  sad  to  think  that  there  are  many  who 
eagerly  respond  to  any  objection  that  is  urged 
against  the  perfect  credibility  and  infallible  in- 
spiration of  the  Bible.  They  instantly  leap  to  the 
conclusion  that  those  who  assail  its  authority  must 
be  right,  and  its  defenders  wrong.  Their  natural 
sympathies  are  with  the  ^'higher  criticism"  and 
other  forms  of  skepticism,  simply  because  their 
natural  sympathies  are  not  with  God  and  His  word. 
A  gentleman  who  professes  to  be  a  Christian,  and 
claims  to  be  a  great  reader,  came  not  long  ago  in  a 
state  of  excitement  to  a  minister  of  the  gospel  ex- 
claiming, ^' I  have  just  found  a  most  wonderful 
book  in  the  Mercantile  Library."  ^'  What  is  it?" 
'^  It  is  a  book  by  Prof.  Robertson  Smith  of  Scotland, 
who  shows  that  the  laws  of  Leviticus  were  unknown 
to  the  Jews  for  a  thousand  years  after  Moses,  and 
that  Deuteronomy  was  written  at  a  period  much 
later  than  his  day."  The  minister  looked  at  him 
a  moment,  and  quietly  said,  ''  What  is  it  in  you 
that  instantly  takes  sides  against  God's  word? 
You  did  not  inquire  whether  Prof.  Robertson  Smith 
had  been  utterly  refuted  and  routed,  but  immedi- 
atly  jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  he  is  right." 
"  I  did  not  know"  the  man  sullenly  answered, 
'' that  any  one  had  replied   to   him."     ''Just   so: 


THE   PROPHETICAL    BOOKS.  53 

you  did  not  know,  and  you  did  not  care  to  ask. 
Now  let  me  inform  you  that  Prof.  Green  of  Prince- 
ton, to  say  nothing  of  Hengstenberg  and  others, 
whose  scholarship  is  so  far  beyond  that  of  young 
Smith  that  he  is  unworthy  to  untie  their  shoe  lachet, 
has  proved  that  all  of  his  talk  about  Leviticus  and 
Deuteronomy  is  the  merest  bosh."  He  promised 
to  get  the  books,  and  to  read  them,  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  he  did  so,  as  he  has  never  since  ap- 
peared. He  is  the  representative  of  a  large  class, 
who  eagerly  take  up  with  anything  that  prom- 
ises to  shake  the  faith  of  men  in  the  Scriptures. 
They  hope  to  find  the  old  book  false  because  it 
bears  so  hard  upon  them  in  their  unsaved  state ; 
and  yet  if  it  were  proved  false,  they  would  be  left 
in  an  infinitely  more  pitiable  condition,  to  grope 
through  darkness  to  an  unknown  eternity.  But  he 
who  is  brought  to  bow  his  proud  will  at  the  foot  of 
the  cross,  and  to  accept  of  pardon  and  eternal  life 
as  the  unmerited  gift  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord,  can  turn  to  these  inspired  Scriptures  as 
the  unfailingfountain  of  wisdom,  strength  and  con- 
solation; and  the  more  he  resorts  to  them,  the 
more  surely  he  will  see  that  ^' holy  men  of  God 
spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 


\' 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  IN  THE  HISTORICAL 
BOOKS  OF  THE  NEW. 

§CARCELY  do  we  open  the  New  Testament  be- 
fore the  eye  falls  upon  the  words,  "  That  it 
might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  Lord 
through  the  prophet,"  (Matt.  i.  22,  Revised  Ver- 
sion). So  in  the  next  chapter,  '^  Thus  it  is  written 
through  (dia)  the  prophet ;"  ''that  it  might  be  ful- 
filled which  was  spoken  by  the  Lord  through  (dia) 
the  prophet ;"  "then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was 
spoken  through  {dia)  Jeremiah,  the  prophet;" 
"that  it  might  be  fulfilled,  which  was  spoken 
through  {dia)  the  prophets,"  not  through  the 
prophet,  observe,  but  through  the  prophets,  (Matt, 
ii.  5,  15,  17,  23).  So  in  the  next  chapter  it  is  said 
of  John  the  Baptist,  "this  is  he  that  was  spoken 
of  by  [or  according  to  the  best  authorities  through'] 
Esaias  the  prophet,"  (Matt.  iii.  3).  So  in  the  next 
chapter  Jesus  repulsed  the  assault  of  the  devil  by 
saying,  "  It  is  written,  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread 
alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of 
the  mouth  of  God."  A  second  time  the  tempter 
came,  and  "Jesus  said  unto  him.  It  is  written 
again."  A  third  time  he  came,  and  a  third  time  he 
was  met  and  defeated  in  the  same  way,  "It  is 
written."  At  the  close  of  the  conflict  our  Lord 
entered  upon  His  public  ministry,  "that  it  might 
be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  through  {dia)  Esaias 
the  prophet,"  (Matt.  iv.  4,  7,  10,  14). 

54 


THE    HISTORICAL    BOOKS.  00 

Here,  then,  ten  times  in  the  first  four  chapters 
of  Matthew  are  certain  words  of  the  Old  Testament 
writings  quoted,  and  quoted  as  spoken  by  the  Lord 
through  the  prophets.  Is  evidence  like  this  worth 
nothing?  Is  it  to  be  set  aside  because  ignorant 
men  discover  diff'erences  of  style  and  imaginary 
difficulties,  that  prevent  their  acceptance  of  the 
truth  of  verbal  inspiration  ?  Let  the  honest  reader 
ask  himself  the  question,  Who  spoke  the  words  of 
the  Old  Testament,  that  are  reproduced  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  New  Testament?  The  answer,  ten 
times  repeated,  leaves  no  room  for  doubt.  It  was 
the  Lord  who  spoke  them,  and  the  prophets  were 
His  mouth-piece  and  medium  for  the  utterance  of 
His  words.  They  were  in  His  hand,  as  the  clay  is 
in  the  hand  of  the  potter,  and  without  any  inter- 
ference with  their  mental  peculiarities  or  literary 
culture.  He  made  them  vessels  for  the  transmission 
of  His  own  messages  in  human  speech.  If  this  is 
not  true  there  is  no  truth  in  the  Bible,  and  all  of 
the  objections  that  may  be  urged  against  it  by  the 
higher  criticism  are  but  ''profane  and  rain  bab- 
blings and  oppositions  of  science,  falsely  so-called," 
(1  Tim.  vi.  20). 

It  is  strange  that  every  Christian  does  not  learn 
a  lesson  from  the  example  of  our  Lord  in  His  treat- 
ment of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  In  the  threefold 
temptation  that  assailed  Him,  three  times  He  re- 
plied, ''  It  is  written," — three  times  He  quoted  the 
book  of  Deuteronomy,  as  if  foreseeing  the  attacks 
upon  it  by  professed  friends  who  seem  to  be  dazed 
by  the  glamour  of  modern  scholarship  ;  three  times 
He  rested  upon  the    word  of    God    as   His   sole 


56  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

defence  and  sufficient  answer,  refusing  to  move  a 
step  beyond  that  word,  even  to  satisfy  His  bodily 
wants,  to  establish  His  claim  upon  the  faith  of  the 
religious  who  gathered  about  the  temple,  or  to  take 
the  kingdoms  of  earth  before  the  time  appointed  by 
the  Father.  Not  only  so,  but  He  spoke  of  the 
word  which  he  quotes  as  of  more  value  than  the 
bread  that  is  essential  to  our  existence,  as  superior 
in  its  authority  to  all  the  demands  of  our  physical 
necessities,  as  proceeding  from  the  mouth  of  God, 
not  from  the  mouth  of  man,  exalting  it  thus  infi- 
nitely above  the  wretched  theory  of  inspired 
thoughts  clothed  in  uninspired  language,  for  He 
declares  that  the  food  of  man's  life,  the  new  life, 
the  true  life,  the  everlasting  life,  is  the  word  not  of 
man  but  of  God. 

Hence,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  in  the  next 
chapter  such  testimony  falling  from  his  lips  as  the 
following :  ''  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy 
the  law  or  the  prophets ;  I  am  not  come  to  destroy 
but  to  fulfill.  For,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  till 
heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in 
no  wise  pass  from  the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled," 
(Matt.  V.  17,  18).  Upon  this  striking  testimony 
Dr.  Joseph  Addison  Alexander  remarks:  '' Jot  or 
tittle  are  expressions  borrowed  from  the  art  of  writ- 
ing, and  peculiarly  appropriate  in  speaking  of  a 
written  law,  not  even  the  minutest  point  of  which 
should  fail  of  its  efi'ect  or  be  abolished  without  an- 
swering its  purpose.  As  we  in  such  a  case  might 
say,  not  a  word,  syllable,  or  letter,  so  the  ancients 
said  not  an  iota,  the  smallest  Greek  letter,  cor- 
responding to  the  Hebrew  yod,  from  which  it  also 


THE   HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  57 

takes  its  name.  The  other  word,  translated  tittlej 
denotes  a  little  horn,  but  is  applied  to  the  minute 
points  and  projections  by  which  similar  letters  are 
distinguished.''  The  New  Testament  Commentary 
by  Dean  Plumtre,  edited  by  Bishop  Ellicott,  says : 
"The  'jot'  is  the  Greek  iota,  the  Hebrew  yod,  the 
smallest  of  all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  The 
'  tittle '  was  one  of  the  smallest  strokes  or  twists  of 
other  letters.  Jewish  Rabbis  used  to  caution  their 
scholars  against  so  writing  as  to  cause  one  letter  to 
be  mistaken  for  another,  and  to  give  examples  of 
passages  from  the  Law  in  which  such  a  mistake 
would  turn  a  divine  truth  into  nonsense  or  blas- 
phemy." 

Can  any  Christian  believe  that  our  Lord  would 
have  so  strongly  emphasized  the  importance  of 
every  little  vowel  point,  and  every  slight  projection 
of  the  letters  that  form  the  Hebrew  alphabet,  un- 
less He  intended  to  teach  that  the  very  words  of 
the  law  were  given  by  inspiration  of  God  ?  ^yhat- 
ever  may  be  the  boasted  scholarshi23  of  modern 
German  rationalists,  and  of  their  admirers  and  dis- 
ciples in  this  country,  probably  they  will  not  claim 
equality  with  Him  ''in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treas- 
ures of  wisdom  and  knowledge  ;"  and  His  reverent 
treatment  of  the  Pentateuch,  containing  the  law, 
might  suggest  to  them  the  propriety  of  a  little  more 
caution  in  some  of  their  statements.  Again  and 
again  He  mentioned  this  entire  section  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  as  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  He 
gave  no  intimation  that  Deuteronomy  was  written 
in  the  days  of  King  Josiah,  or  that  Leviticus  was 
unknown  until  the  time  of  Ezra.     He  at  least   dis- 


58  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

covered  no  internal  evidence,  in  the  difference  of 
style,  that  a  number  of  independent  authors  had 
assisted  in  the  composition  of  the  three  remaining 
books,  followed  up  by  a  still  larger  number  of  re- 
dactors and  sub-redactors.  He  recognized  in  the 
five  books,  as  the  Jews  had  them  and  as  we  have 
them,  the  handiwork  of  God,  and  hence  one  jot  or 
one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law,  nor 
from  the  prophets,  till  all  be  fulfilled. 

It  is  evident  that  with  Him,  not  what  was 
thought,  but  what  was  written  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment scriptures  was  an  end  of  all  controversy,  an 
unimpeachable  witness  to  the  truth  of  all  His 
teachings,  and  a  court  of  last  resort  in  its  decisions 
upon  all  questions  of  faith  and  practice.  These 
scriptures  to-uch^d  him  at  every  step  of  His  journey 
through  the  world,  and  were  honored  by  Him  as 
emanating  from  a  higher  than  human  source  in 
their  words,  as  well  as  thoughts.  "  He  healed  the 
sick ;  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken 
by  Esaias,  the  prophet,"  literally,  ''that  the  word 
spoken  through  (dia)  Esaias  the  prophet  might  be 
fulfilled  or  verified,"  (Matt.  viii.  17).  He  ''  charged 
them  that  they  should  not  make  him  known,  that 
it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  Esaias 
the  prophet,"  literally,  ''that  the  word  spoken 
through  (dia)  Esaias  the  prophet  might  be  fulfilled 
or  verified,"  (Matt.  xii.  17).  "All  these  things 
spake  Jesus  to  the  multitude  in  parables  ;  and 
without  a  parable  spake  he  not  unto  them  ;  that  it 
might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the 
prophet,"  literally,  "  that  the  word  spoken  through 
(dia)  the  prophet  might  be   fulfilled  or   verified," 


THE   HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  59 

(Matt.  xiii.  34,  35).  "  ^yhy  do  ye  also  transgress 
the  commandment  of  God  by  your  traditions  ?  For 
God  commanded,  saying,  Honor  thy  father  and 
mother,"  (Matt.  xy.  3,  4). 

It  will  be  obseryed  that  our  Lord  declares  it  was 
the  commandment  of  God,  not  of  man,  which  He 
quotes,  and  that  God  commanded,  saying.  It  was 
not  man  therefore  that  commanded,  but  it  was  God 
who  both  commanded  and  said.  He  droye  the 
money-changers  out  of  the  temple  in  the  power  of 
the  Old  Testament  scripture,  "It  is  written,  my 
house  shall  be  called  the  house  of  prayer."  He 
rebuked  the  chief  priests  and  scribes,  who  were 
angry  because  the  children  were  singing  His  praise, 
with  the  Old  Testament  scripture,  "  Haye  ye  neyer 
read.  Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou 
hast  perfected  praise  ?"  Again  He  rebuked  them 
for  their  rejection  of  Him  with  the  Old  Testament 
scripture,  "Did  ye  neyer  read  in  the  Scriptures, 
The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected,  the  same  is 
become  the  head  of  the  corner?"  (Matt.  xxi.  13, 
16,  42).  To  the  Sadducees,  who  denied  the  resur- 
rection. He  said,  "  Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the 
scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God.  .  .  .  Haye 
ye  not  read  that  which  was  spoken  unto  you  by 
God,  saying,  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the 
God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob  ?  God  is  not 
the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  Hying,"  (Matt.  xxii. 
29,  32). 

The  whole  of  the  sublime  argument  turns  upon 
the  difference  between  the  past  and  the  present 
tense  of  the  yerb  "to  be."  The  Sayiour  distinctly 
affirms  that  the  word  was  not  spoken  by  man,  but 


60  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

by  God,  who  did  not  say,  I  ivas  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, but  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham  and  the  patri- 
archs, and  therefore  as  the  covenant  with  them 
included  both  soul  and  body,  they  are  still  living 
and  their  bodies  must  be  raised.  To  the  Pharisees, 
who  confessed  that  the  Messiah  is  the  Son  of  David 
He  said,  *^  How  then  doth  David  in  spirit  call  him 
Lord,"  or  as  the  Revised  Version  has  it,  ''How 
then  doth  David  in  the  Spirit,"  or  as  the  Emphatic 
Diaglott  renders  it,  ''How  then  does  David,  by 
Inspiration,  call  him  Lord?"  (Matt.  xxii.  43). 
"  The  Son  of  man  goeth  as  it  is  written  of  Him." 
"All  ye  shall  be  offended  because  of  me  this  night, 
for  it  is  written,  I  will  smite  the  shepherd,  and  the 
flock  of  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered  abroad." 
"  Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  now  pray*  to  my 
Father,  and  he  shall  presently  give  me  more  than 
twelve  legions  of  angels  ?  But  how  then  shall  the 
Scriptures  be  fulfilled,  that  thus  it  must  be?" 
"  But  all  this  was  done,  that  the  scriptures  of  the 
prophet  might  be  fulfilled,"  (Matt.  xxvi.  24,  31, 
54,  56). 

These  are  passages  selected  almost  at  random 
from  a  single  gospel,  and  can  anyone  doubt  in  their 
presence  that  the  Lord  Jesus  exhibited  the  most 
profound  respect  for  the  words,  and  for  the  very 
letters,  of  the  Old  Testament  writings  ?  "WTien 
death  stared  Him  in  the  face.  He  had  but  to  raise 
His  hand,  but  to  lift  one  pleading  glance  to  heaven 
for  help,  and  more  than  twelve  legions  of  angels 
would  have  rushed  on  eager  wing  to  avenge  the  in- 
sults and  cruelties  inflicted  by  sinful  men  upon 
One  whom  they  adored ;    but  how   then   shall  the 


THE   HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  61 

Scriptures  be  fulfilled,  that  thus  it  must  be  ?  At 
whatever  cost  to  Himself,  and  with  certain  deliver- 
ance at  hand,  the  Scriptures  must  be  fulfilled,  and 
they  were  fulfilled  in  the  minutest  particulars,  with 
exact  literalness,  the  words  of  accomplishment  an- 
swering precisely  to  the  words  of  prediction,  as 
when  His  murderers  gave  Him  gall  and  vinegar  to 
drink,  and  parted  His  garments  and  cast  lots  upon 
His  vesture,  and  reviled  Him  and  wagged  their 
heads,  and  mocked  Him  with  the  taunt,  "He 
trusted  in  God;  let  him  deliver  him  now,"  and 
wrung  from  His  broken  heart  the  dreariest  cry  of 
anguish  that  ever  burst  from  mortal  lips,  "  My 
God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  (Matt, 
xxvii.  34-46). 

It  is  the  special  design  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
gospel  of  Matthew  to  present  Christ  as  the  prom- 
ised King,  in  the  gospel  of  Mark  as  the  faithful 
servant  of  God,  (Isa.  xlii.  1),  and  in  the  gospel  of 
Luke  as  the  Son  of  man ;  and  this  accounts  for  some 
of  the  difi*erences  and  difficulties  that  have  caused 
the  feet  of  the  higher  critics  to  stumble.  But  what- 
ever the  difierence,  each  of  the  three  synoptical 
gospels,  as  they  are  needlessly  called,  makes  abund- 
antly manifest  the  jealous  regard  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
for  every  little  statement  of  the  Old  Testament 
writings,  showing  that  they  held  a  place  in  His 
esteem  infinitely  above  that  of  the  learned  Rabbis, 
or  of  any  human  writings  whatever.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  want  of  space  forbids  a  careful  ex- 
amination of  Mark  and  Luke  upon  this  point,  but 
they  are  in  entire  agreement  with  the  testimony  of 
Matthew,  and  the  objector  is   challenged  to  point 


62  IS   THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

out  a  single  utterance  of  Christ  that  does  not  prove 
His  acceptance  of  all  the  Old  Testament  writings 
as  containing  the  very  words  of  God,  even  in  the 
most  obscure  and,  as  men  would  say,  trivial  pas- 
sages. 

The  same  fact  is  brought  out  still  more  fully,  if 
it  were  possible,  in  the  gospel  of  John  that  reveals 
Him  as  the  Son  of  God.  Thus  we  read,  "  His  dis- 
ciples remembered  that  it  was  written ;  the  zeal  of 
thine  house  hath  eaten  me  up;"  *'and  they  be- 
lieved the  Scripture,  and  the  word  which  Jesus  had 
V  said,"  (John  ii.  17,  22).  To  the  Jews  He  ex- 
claimed, ''Search  the  Scriptures  ;  for  in  them  ye 
think  ye  have  eternal  life  ;  and  they  are  they  which 
testify  of  me."  "Had  ye  believed  Moses,  ye 
would  have  believed  me,  for  he  wrote  of  me ;"  not 
intimating  that  anybody  else  had  written  any  of 
the  five  books,  or  any  portion  of  the  five  books, 
which  the  Jews  ascribed  to  Moses,  (John  v.  39,  46). 
"It  is  written  in  the  prophets,  and  they  shall  all 
be  taught  of  God,"  (John  vi.  45).  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  in  me,  as  the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his 
belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water,"  (John  vii. 
38).  "  It  is  also  written  in  your  law,  that  the  tes- 
timony of  two  men  is  true,"  (John  viii.  17).  "  Is 
it  not  written  in  your  law,  I  said,  ye  are  gods  ?  If 
.  he  called  them  gods,  unto  whom  the  word  of  God 
came,  and  the  Scriptur^can  not  be  broken  ;  say  ye 
of  him  whom  the  Father  hath  sanctified,  and  sent 
into  the  world,  thou  blasphemest,  because  I  said  I 
am  the  Son  of  God?"  (John  x.  34-36). 

There  are  several  things  about  this  language  of 
our  Lord  worthy  of  notice.     First,  he  appeals  to 


THE    HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  63 

the  Scriptures  as  the  sole  judge  of  the  controversy  : 
''Is  it  not  written?"  Second,  the  argument  turns 
upon  the  single  word  ''gods  "  in  a  single  verse  of 
the  82nd  Psalm.  Third,  it  embraces  the  important 
difference  between  the  singular  and  plural  num- 
bers, between  "  gods  "  and  God.  Fourth,  it  shows 
that  it  was  God,  and  not  the  Psalmist,  who  called 
the  princes  and  rulers  "  gods,"  as  representatives 
of  Himself.  Fifth,  it  declares  that  it  was  the  word 
of  God,  not  the  word  of  man,  that  came  unto  them. 
Sixth,  it  asserts  that  the  Scripture  can  not  be 
broken  in  the  least  link,  in  the  smallest  particle, 
in  the  number,  gender,  case,  tense,  or  inflection  of 
the  original  word.  Seventh,  it  proves  the  divinity 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Bishop  Ryle  well  adds, 
"  The  theories  of  those  who  say  that  the  writers  of 
the  Bible  were  inspired,  but  not  all  their  writings 
— or  the  ideas  of  the  Bible  inspired,  but  not  all  the 
language  in  which  these  ideas  are  conveyed,  appear 
to  be  totally  irreconcilable  with  our  Lord's  use  of 
the  sentence  before  us.  There  is  no  other  standing 
ground,  I  believe,  about  inspiration,  excepting  the 
principle  that  it  is  plenary,  and  reaches  to  every 
syllable.  Once  leaving  that  ground,  we  are  plunged 
in  a  sea  of  uncertainties.  Like  the  carefully  com- 
posed language  of  wills,  settlements  and  convey- 
ances, every  word  of  the  Bible  must  be  held  sacred, 
and  not  a  single  flaw  or  slip  of  the  pen  admitted." 
Perhaps  it  is  well  also  to  give  a  single  extract  from 
Hengstenberg  whose  scholarship,  to  say  the  least, 
was  not  inferior  to  that  of  the  Scotch  and  American 
Professors  of  Higher  Criticism:  "It  can  not  be 
doubted  that  the  Scripture  is  broken  by  those  who 


64  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

assert  that  the  Psalms  breathe  a  spirit  of  revenge — 
that  Solomon's  song  is  a  common,  oriental  love 
song — that  there  are  in  the  prophets  predictions 
never  to  be  fulfilled — or  by  those  who  deny  the 
Mosaic  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch." 

In  another  place  we  are  told  that "  Jesus,  when  he 
had  found  a  yoimg  ass,  sat  thereon  ;  as  it  is  written, 
Fear  not,  daughter  of  Sion ;  behold,  thy  King 
Cometh,  sitting  on  an  ass's  colt.  These  things  un- 
derstood not  his  disciples  at  the  first :  but  when 
Jesus  was  glorified,  then  remembered  they  that 
these  things  were  written  of  him,"  (Johnxii.  14-16). 
' '  I  speak  not  of  you  all :  I  know  whom  I  have  chosen ; 
but  that  the  Scripture  may  be  fulfilled.  He  that  eateth 
bread  withme,  hath  lifted  up  his  heel  against  me," 
(John  xiii.  18).  '^  But  this  cometh  to  pass,  that  the 
word  might  be  fulfilled  that  is  written  in  their  law. 
They  hated  me  without  cause,"  (John  xv.  25). 
"  While  I  was  with  them  in  the  world,  I  kept  them 
in  thy  name  :  those  that  thougavest  me  I  have  kept 
and  none  of  them  is  lost,  but  the  son  of  perdition;  that 
the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled,"  (John  xvii.  12). 
The  soldiers  about  His  cross  cast  lots  for  His  seam- 
less coat,  ^'that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled." 
^'After  this,  Jesus,  knowing  that  all  things  were 
now  accomplished,  that  the  Scripture  might  be  ful- 
filled, saith — I  thirst."  The  executioners  brake 
not  His  legs,  but  one  of  them  with  a  spear  pierced 
His  side,  ''for  these  things  were  done,  that  the 
Scriptures  should  be  fulfilled,  A  bone  of  him  shall 
not  be  broken.  And  again  another  Scripture  saith. 
They  shall  look  on  him  whom  they  pierced,"  (John 
xix.  24,  28,  36,  37). 


THE  HISTORICAL  BOOKS.  65 

Is  not  this  overwhelming  testimony  to  the  in- 
spiration of  the  very  words  of  the  Old  Testament  ? 
Hundreds  of  years  before,  predictions  had  been 
uttered  that,  on  account  of  their  brevity  and  appar- 
ent vagueness,  would  have  utterly  escaped  human 
notice.  They  were  left  in  the  midst  of  historical 
narrations,  or  lodged  in  a  short  phrase  of  some 
Psalm,  or  embedded  in  a  part  of  a  prophetic  verse, 
and  yet  after  all  of  these  centuries  had  passed,  they 
were  taken  up  and  shown  to  demand  a  literal  and 
precise  fulfillment.  The  Lord  Jesus  had  absolute 
control  over  the  hour  and  moment  of  His  departure, 
for  He  said,  ''I  lay  down  my  life,  that  I  might 
take  it  again.  No  man  taketh  it  from  me,  but  I 
lay  it  down  of  myself.  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down, 
and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again.  This  command- 
ment have  I  received  of  my  Father,"  (John  x. 
17,  18). 

We  behold  Him,  therefore,  on  the  cross  a  volun- 
tary victim  of  man's  hatred  of  God's  holiness,  and 
a  voluntary  sacrifice  to  pay  the  penalty  w*hich 
God's  righteous  law  demanded  of  the  sinner.  But 
w^hy  does  He  not  die,  and  so  end  the  fierce  tortures 
that  are  racking  His  body,  and  the  fiercer  tortures 
that  are  rending  His  soul  ?  We  learn  to  our  amaze- 
ment that  He  is  surveying,  as  it  were,  the  vast  field 
of  ancient  prophecy  to  see  if  there  yet  remained  any 
little  prediction  that  lacked  fulfillment,  before  he 
would  consent  to  bring  the  dreadful  suffering  to  a 
close.  Yes,  there  is  one  in  the  69th  Psalm,  ^'  In 
my  thirst  they  gave  me  vinegar  to  drink,"  and  the 
Holy  one,  ''  that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled, 
saith,  I  thirst.  Now  there  was  set  a  vessel  full  of 
5 


66  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

vinegar  ;  and  they  filled  a  sponge  with  vinegar, 
and  put  it  upon  hyssop,  and  put  it  to  his  mouth. 
When  Jesus  therefore  had  received  the  vinegar,  he 
said.  It  is  finished :  and  he  bowed  his  head,  and 
gave  up  the  ghost." 

But  why  did  not  the  soldiers  break  His  legs  ? 
Nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  previous  to  the  cruci- 
fixion, the  blood  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  was 
sprinkled  on  the  two  side  posts  and  on  the  upper 
doorposts  of  the  houses,  in  which  the  Israelites 
were  gathered  on  the  night  of  the  passover.  Of 
this  lamb  God  had  said,  "  In  one  house  shall  it  be 
eaten,  thou  shalt  not  carry  forth  ought  of  the  flesh 
abroad  out  of  the  house  ;  neither  shall  ye  break  a 
bone  thereof,"  (Ex.  xii.  46).  So  the  soldiers  brake 
not  His  legs  :  "for  these  things  were  done  that 
the  Scripture  should  be  fulfilled,  A  bone  of  him 
shall  not  be  boken."  But  they  pierced  His  side; 
for  a  thousand  years  after  Israel's  redemption  from 
Egyptian  bondage,  God  had  said  through  his  pro- 
phets, "  I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of 
grace  and  supplication  ;  and  they  shall  look  upon 
me  whom  they  have  pierced,"  (Zech.  xii.  10);  or 
as  the  same  divine  speaker  exclaims  in  the  22nd 
Psalm,  "  they  pierced  my  hands  and  my  feet." 
Hence  in  John  we  read,  "  another  Scripture  saith, 
They  shall  look  on  him  whom  they  pierced." 

In  the  light  of  all  this,  it  is  impossible  to  resist 
the  conclusion  that  one  of  the  two  writers  in  the 
Old  and  New  Testament,  was  not  a  credible  wit- 
ness, and  did  not  narrate  the  facts  as  they  occurred, 
or  on  the  other  hand  that  the  very  words  of  the  Old 


THE   HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  67 

Testament  are  inspired.  A  hasty  reading  of  Dr. 
Bannerman's  book  fails  to  show  that  he  touches  the 
gospel  of  John,  but  he  truly  says  upon  certain  pas- 
sages in  Matthew,  far  less  striking  than  these,  "No 
theory  of  inspiration  short  of  a  plenary  one  will 
satisfy  the  requirements  of  a  system  of  prophecy 
whose  fulfillments,  down  to  their  minutest  letter, 
are  secured  by  the  divine  ordinations  carried  out  in 
the  life  of  Christ,  expressly  in  subserviency  to  their 
fulfillment.  ...  It  afibrds  a  most  impressive 
proof  of  the  supernatural  inspiration  w^hich  pre- 
sided over  the  very  language  in  which  the  predic- 
tion was  uttered,  and  which,  unknown  to  the 
prophet,  expressed  a  wisdom  which  was  not  his." 
It  only  remains  to  state  that  the  same  reverence 
which  our  Lord  exhibited  for  the  Old  Testament 
writings  amid  the  agonies  of  death,  He  continued 
to  manifest  after  His  resurrection.  Hence  when 
He  appeared  to  the  two  disciples  on  the  way  to 
Emmaus,  "beginning  at  Moses  and  all  the  proph- 
ets, he  expounded  unto  them  in  all  the  Scriptures  / 
the  things  concerning  himself."  The  same  even- 
ing their  eyes  were  opened  to  recognize  Him,  as  He  . 
sat  at  meat  with  them,  and  took  bread,  and  blessed 
it,  and  brake,  and  gave  to  them  ;  and  when  He  van- 
ished out  of  sight,  "  they  said  one  to  another.  Did 
not  our  heart  burn  within  us,  while  he  talked  with 
us  by  the  way,  and  w^iile  he  opened  to  us  the 
Scriptures  ?"  Still  later  on  the  same  evening  Jesus 
stood  in  the  midst  of  the  assembled  and  astonished 
disciples,  "and  he  said  unto  them.  These  are  the 
words  which  I  spake  unto  you,  while  I  was  yet 
with  you,  that  all  things  muist  be  fulfilled,   Avhich 


68  IS   THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

were  written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  proph- 
ets, and  in  the  Psalms,  concerning  me.  Then*- 
opened  he  their  miderstanding,  that  they  might 
understand  the  Scriptures,  and  said  unto  them. 
Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to 
sufifer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day," 
(Luke  xxiv.  27,  32,  44,  46).  What  an  example  our 
Saviour  has  left  of  the  manner  in  which  He  would 
have  His  followers  treat  every  portion  of  the  Old 
Testament !  All  through  His  ministry  of  un- 
wearied love,  then  upon  the  cross  pouring  out  His 
blood  to  make  atonement  for  our  sins,  and  when 
He  arose  from  the  dead,  the  first  fruits  of  them 
that  slept,  always  and  everywhere  He  exalted  the 
word  of  God  with  careful  regard  for  its  least  state- 
ment. Surely  if  we  would  walk  in  His  footsteps, 
and  gain  His  approval,  we  must  resist  every  attempt 
to  lower  the  divine  claims  of  that  word,  and  every 
temptation,  though  clothed  with  plausible  argu* 
ment  and  pretentious  scholarship,  to  view  any 
chapter  or  verse  as  unworthy  of  an  implicit  faith 
and  unquestioning  obedience. 

Turning  now  to  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we  find 
Peter  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  history  standing 
in  the  midst  of  the  disciples,  the  number  of  the 
names  together  being  about  an  hundred  and  twenty, 
and  saying,  "Men,  brethren,  this  Scripture  must 
needs  have  been  fulfilled,  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
by  the  mouth  of  David  spoke  concerning  Judas," 
(Acts  i.  16).  Here  it  is  asserted  that  this  Scripture 
must  needs  have  been  fulfilled,  which  in  itself 
shows  that  it  could  not  have  been  the  Scripture  of 
man,  and  then  it  is  plainly  declared  that  it  was  the 


THE   HISTORICAL    BOOKS.  69 

Holy  Ghost  who  spoke  by  the  mouth  of  David. 
Unless,  therefore,  it  can  be  shown  that  there  is 
something  peculiar  in  this  Scripture,  separating  it 
from  other  ancient  Scripture,  the  doctrine  of  the 
verbal  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament  is  estab- 
lished. But  when  we  look  at  the  Scripture  thus 
quoted,  and  attributed  directly  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
we  find  nothing  to  distinguish  it  from  any  other 
Scripture:  "Yea,  mine  own  familiar  friend,  in 
whom  I  trusted,  which  did  eat  of  my  bread,  hath 
lifted  up  his  heel  against  me,"  (Ps.  xli.  9).  This 
is  all  there  is  of  it,  and  yet  it  was  spoken  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  through  the  mouth  of  David,  and  there- 
fore the  other  writings  of  David  were  spoken  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  if  no  exception  to  the  rule  can  be 
cited. 

So  in  the  next  chapter  Peter  says,  "  This  is  that 
which  was  spoken  through  (cZia)  the  prophet  Joel," 
(Acts  ii.  16).  In  the  next  chapter  he  says  of  Jesus 
Christ,  ''  whom  the  heaven  must  receive  until  the 
times  of  restitution  of  all  things,  which  God  hath 
spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  prophets  since 
the  world  began,"  (Acts  iii.  21).  Here  again  it  is 
explicitly  affirmed  that  it  was  God  who  spoke 
through  (dia)  the  mouth  of  all  the  holy  prophets, 
ascribing  therefore  to  Him  as  the  author,  the  words, 
not  only  of  some  but  of  all  the  prophets.  In  the 
next  chapter  the  Apostles  "  lifted  up  their  voice  to 
God  with  one  accord,  and  said.  Lord  thou  art  God, 
which  hast  made  heaven,  and  earth,  and  the  sea, 
and  all  that  in  them  is ;  who  by  the  mouth  of  thy 
servant  David  hast  said,"  (Acts  iv.  24,  25).  It  was 
not  David  who  said  it,  but  the  Lord  God,  the  maker 


70  IS    THE    BIBLE    INSPIRED  ? 

of  heaven  and  earth,  said  it  through  (dia)  the 
mouth  of  David. 

It  seems  ahnost  like  an  insult  to  the  understand- 
ing to  continue  an  argument  like  this,  when  the 
point  is  already  fully  proved  to  all  who  are  willing 
to  receive  the  testimony  of  the  Bible  upon  any  sub- 
ject whatever.  The  same  thought  pervades  the 
entire  book  under  consideration,  as  when  Stephen 
says,  *'The  God  of  glory  appeared  unto  our  father 
Abraham,  .  ,  .  andsaiduntohim;"  ^'And  God 
spake  in  this  wise  ;"  *'  the  voice  of  the  Lord  came 
unto  him,  saying,  I  am  the  God  of  thy  fathers;" 
''  then  said  the  Lord  unto  him,"  (Acts  vii.  2,  3,  6, 
31,  33).  Paul  speaking  to  the  Jews  of  the  death  of 
Christ,  tells  them  ''that  they  had  fulfilled  all  that 
was  written  of  him  ;"  that  the  promise  God  hath 
fulfilled,  ''in  that  he  hath  raised  up  Jesus  again ; 
as  it  is  also  written  in  the  second  psalm,  Thou 
art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee.  And 
as  concerning  that  he  raised  him  up  from  the  dead, 
now  no  more  to  return  to  corruption,  He  said  in 
this  wise,  I  will  give  you  the  sure  mercies  of 
David.  Wherefore  He  saith  also  in  another  Psalm, 
Thou  shalt  not  suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see  cor- 
ruption," (Acts  xiii.  29,  33-35).  "And  Paul  as  his 
manner  was,  went  in  unto  them,  and  three  Sabbath 
days  reasoned  with  them  out  of  the  Scriptures," 
(Acts  xvii.  2). 

It  is  a  significant  and  suggestive  fact  that  the 
Apostle  found  enough  in. the  Old  Testament  writ- 
ings to  occupy  him  fen-  three  Sabbath  days,  in  open- 
ing and   alleging    that   Christ  must    needs    have 


THE   HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  71 

suffered,  and  risen  again  from  the  dead,  and  that 
this  Jesus  whom  he  preached  is  the  Christ ;  and  it 
is  equally  significant  and  suggestive  to  know  that 
so  far  as  his  discourse  is  recorded  in  the  13th 
chapter,  and  the  discourse  of  Stephen  in  the 
7th  chapter,  and  the  discourse  of  Peter  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost  in  the  2nd  chapter,  the  sermons  of 
the  first  preachers  of  the  gospel  were  made  up 
almost  wholly  of  quotations  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures.  This  clearly  shows  that  they  re- 
garded these  Scriptures  as  divinely  inspired,  and 
the  decisions  of  these  Scriptures  upon  any  point 
under  discussion  as  authoritative  and  final,  be- 
cause they  were  the  decisions  of  God  Himself. 

There  is  not  a  line  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in 
conflict  with  the  statement  just  made,  but  it  is  con- 
firmed by  every  sermon  and  utterance  of  men,  who 
claimed  that  they  also  were  inspired.  Hence  when 
Paul  stood  as  a  prisoner  before  the  high  priest,  who 
commanded  him  to  be  smitten,  he  indignantly  re- 
plied, ^'  God  shall  smite  thee,  thou  whited  wall." 
''And  they  that  stood  by  said,  Revilest  thou  God's 
high  priest?  Then  said  Paul,  I  wist  not,  brethren, 
that  he  was  the  high  priest :  for  it  is  written.  Thou 
shalt  not  speak  evil  of  the  ruler  of  thy  people," 
(Acts  xxiii.  5).  He  instantly  bowed  to  the  author- 
ity of  the  Scripture,  although  he  knew  that  he  was 
wrongfully  suffering  a  shameful  indignity.  Again 
he  stood  as  a  prisoner  before  Felix  to  whom  he 
said,  ''  I  confess  unto  thee,  that  after  the  way  they 
call  heresy,  so  worship  I  the  God  of  my  Fathers, 
believing  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  law 
and  in  the  prophets,"  (Acts  xxiv.  14).  Such  was 
his  confession  of  faith  ;  and  would  to  God  it  were 


72  IS   THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

the  confession  of  every  one  who  is  called  to  preach 
and  to  teach  in  these  days — believing  all  things 
which  are  written  in  the  law  and  in  the  prophets. 
In  the  last  appearance  of  the  devoted  apostle  in 
the  last  chapter  of  the  book,  he  is  a  prisoner  in 
Rome,  but  not  forbidden  to  receive  any  who'  de- 
sired to  see  him.  On  an  appointed  day  many  of 
the  Jews  came  to  him,  ''to  whom  he  expounded 
and  testified  the  kingdom  of  God,  persuading  them 
concerning  Jesus,  both  out  of  the  law  of  Moses,  and 
out  of  the  prophets,  from  morning  till  evening. 
And  some  believed  the  things  which  were  spoken, 
and  some  believed  not.  And  when  they  agreed  not 
among  themselves,  they  departed,  after  that  Paul 
had  spoken  one  word.  Well  spake  the  Holy  Ghost 
through  (did)  Esaias  the  prophet  unto  our  fathers, 
saying,"  (Acts  xxviii.  23-25).  It  was  out  of  the 
law  of  Moses,  observe,  embracing  the  entire  Penta- 
teuch, lie  sought  to  persuade  them,  and  it  was  not 
Isaiah  who  spake,  but  it  was  the  Holy  Ghost  who 
spake  through  Isaiah,  and  said.  Whether  we  can 
understand  how  the  Holy  Ghost  spake  or  not,  it  is 
distinctly  affirmed  by  the  apostle  that  he  did  speak 
and  say  certain  words.  So  the  book  opens  with 
the  testimony  of  Peter  that  the  Holy  Ghost  spake 
through  the  mouth  of  David,  and  it  closes  with  the 
testimony  of  Paul  that  the  Holy  Ghost  spake 
through  Isaiah.  If,  therefore,  the  testimony  of 
these  two  inspired  apostles  is  to  be  received,  then 
the  verbal  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament  is 
proved. 


VI. 

THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  IN  THE  EPISTLES  OF 
THE  NEW. 

fHE  moment  we  turn  to  these,  the  eye  falls  upon 
the  words,  "  Paul,  a  servant  of  Jesus  Christ, 
called  to  be  an  apostle,  separated  unto  the  gospel 
of  God,  which  he  had  promised  afore  by  his  proph- 
ets in  the  Holy  Scriptures,''  (Rom.  i.  1,  2).  Here 
it  is  distinctly  asserted  that  it  was  not  man  but  God 
who  had  promised,  and  that  He  had  promised  by, 
or  rather  through  (dia)  the  prophets;  and  the 
reference  to  the  prophets,  as  Dr.  Charles  Hodge 
truly  says,  ''includes  all  the  Old  Testament 
writers,  whether  prophets  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
term  or  teachers  or  historians."  The  plenary  and 
verbal  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament  is  thus 
firmly  established  at  the  very  beginning  of  the 
epistles,  for  it  was  God  who  spoke  through  all  the 
men  employed  to  produce  the  Scriptures  or  writ- 
ings which  are  called  ''holy."  Observe,  not  the 
writers  nor  their  thoughts,  but  their  writings  are 
holy,  because  the  writings  are  inspired.     » 

We  are  not  surprised,  therefore,  to  find  the  same 
apostle  declaring  that  the  chief  advantage  and  dis- 
tinction of  the  Jews  consisted  in  the  fact  "that 
unto  them  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God," 
(Rom.  iii.  2).  To  the  ancients  who  knew  that 
oracles  were  the  spoken  communications  of  the 
Deity,  this  statement  would  furnish  the  strongest 
possible  proof  of  verbal  inspiration.     Nor  is  the 

73 


74  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

evidence  weakened  when  the  apostle  invests  the 
Old  Testament  writings  with  the  attributes  of  per- 
sonality and  divine  authority.  It  is  obvious  that 
he  considers  his  argument  as  ended,  his  testimony 
as  conclusive,  and  his  position  as  impregnable, 
when  he  can  cite  the  intspired  writings,  and  triumph- 
antly exclaim,  ''What  saith  the  Scripture?" 
(Rom.  iv.  3).  If  he  is  defending  the  sovereignty 
of  God,  he  falls  back  on  the  writing,  *'  The  Scrip- 
ture saith  unto  Pharaoh,"  (Rom.  ix.  17).  It  is  true 
that  it  was  God  who  spoke  unto  Pharaoh,  but  so 
much  is  the  Scripture  the  very  word  of  God  that 
the  apostle  makes  no  distinction  between  the  two. 
If  it  is  salvation  through  faith  in  Christ  he  is  pre- 
senting, it  is  enough  for  him  to  show  that  ^'the 
Scripture  saith,  AVhosoever  believeth  on  Him  shall 
not  be  ashamed,"  (Rom.  x.  11).  If  God's  purpose 
toward  Israel  is  under  discussion,  he  reminds  his 
readers,  "  Wot  ye  not  what  the  Scripture  saith  of 
Elias?"  (Rom.  xi.  2).  If  he  would  illustrate  the 
high  value  and  indispensable  importance  of  the 
Old  Testament  from  first  to  last,  in  its  bearing 
upon  believers  of  the  present  dispensation,  he  says, 
*'  Whatsoever  things  were  written  aforetime  were 
written  f*or  our  learning,  that  we  through  patience 
and  comfort  of  the  Scriptures  might  have  hope," 
(Rom.  XV.  4). 

No  wonder  that  eighteen  times  in  the  epistle  to 
the  Romans  there  is  an  appeal  to  what  is  written 
in  the  Old  Testament  as  final  in  its  decision  upon 
every  point  of  doctrine  and  of  duty  presented  ''  to 
all  that  be  in  Rome,  beloved  of  God,  called  to  be 
saints,"  (i.  7).     Men  are  made  righteous  by  faith, 


THE   OLD   TESTAMENT   IN   THE   EPISTLES.  75 

"as  it  is  written,  the  just  shall  live  by  faith,'' 
(i.  17).  The  Jews  were  dishonoring  their  profes- 
sion by  their  formality,  ''  for  the  name  of  God  is 
blasphemed  among  the  Gentiles  through  you,  as  it 
is  written,"  (ii.  24).  God  must  be  true,  even  if 
every  man  is  proved  to  be  a  liar,  ''  as  it  is  written," 
(iii.  4).  There  is  not  a  righteous  man  on  earth, 
*' as  it  is  written,"  (iii.  10).  Abraham  was  made 
the  father  of  many  nations,  '^  as  it  is  written,"  (iv. 
17).  His  belief  of  God's  word  was  counted  unto  him 
for  righteousness,  and  ''  it  was  riot  written  for  his 
sake  alone,  that  it  was  imputed  to  him,"  (iv.  23). 
The  sufferings  of  believers  should  not  discourage 
them,  ''as  it  is  written.  For  thy  sake  we  are  killed 
all  the  day  long,"  (viii.  36).  God  has  a  right  to  do 
as  He  please,  "  as  it  is  written,  Jacob  have  I  loved, 
but  Esau  have  I  hated,"  (ix.  13).  The  Jews  as  a 
body  rejected  Christ,  "as  it  is  written,  Behold,  I 
lay  in  Sion  a  stumbling-stone  and  rock  of  offense," 
(ix.  33).  "Moses  describeth  the  righteousness 
which  is  of  the  law,"  (x.  5) — literally,  "Moses 
writes  of  that  righteousness  which  is  of  the  law;" 
and,  by  the  way,  the  quotation  is  from  the  book  of 
Leviticus,  which,  the  higher  critics  say,  was  un- 
known until  the  time  of  Ezra,  but  which,  Paul 
says,  was  written  by  Moses.  The  preachers  whom 
God  sends  have  beautiful  feet,  "  as  it  is  written," 
(x.  15).  Israel  for  a  time  is  set  aside,  "  according 
as  it  is  written,"  (xi.  1-8).  But  the  Lord  is  coming 
back  for  their  salvation,  "  as  itis  written,"  (xi.  26). 
Believers  are  not  to  avenge  themselves,  "  for  it  is 
written,"  (xii.  19).  All  shall  yet  bow  the  knee  to 
Christ,  "for  it  is  written,"   (xiv.  11).     Even  He 


,0  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  f 

pleased  not  Himself,  "  as  it  is  written,"  (xv.  3). 
The  Gentiles  may  well  glorify  God  for  his  mercy, 
"  as  it  is  written,"  (xv.9).  ''And  again  He  saith," 
(xv.  10).  Whosaith?  God.  And'where  does  He 
say  it?  In  Deuteronomy.  The  apostle  would  not 
build  upon  another  man's  foundation,  ''as  it  is 
written,"  (xv.  21). 

The  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament  in  the 
epistles  to  the  Co^rinthians  are  not  quite  so  numer- 
ous, but  they  are  quite  sufficient  to  confirm  the 
truth  of  the  authenticity  and  genuineness,  the 
divine  authority,  and  the  plenary  verbal  inspira- 
tion of  every  part  of  these  ancient  writings.  The 
gospel  confounds  the  boasted  learning  and  phil- 
osophy of  unbelievers,  "for  it  is  written,  I  will  de- 
stroy the  wisdom  of  the  wise,"  (i.  19).  "That, 
according  as  it  is  written,  He  that  glorieth,  let  him 
glory  in  the  Lord,"  (i.  31).  The  things  of  God 
are  not  open  to  the  eye  of  the  natural  man,  "  as  it 
is  written,"  (ii.  9).  "  The  wisdom  of  the  world  is 
foolishness  with  God  :  for  it  is  written.  He  taketh 
the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness,"  (iii.  19).  "  That 
ye  might  learn  in  us  not  to  think  above  that  which 
is  written,"  (iv.  6)  ;  and  oh  !  that  the  higher  critics 
would  learn  this  lesson.  "  For  it  is  written  in  the 
law  of  Moses,"  (ix.  9)  ;  and  the  quotation  that  fol- 
lows is  from  the  book  of  Deuteronomy  which  the 
higher  critics  say,  was  unknown  until  the  time  of 
King  Josiah,  but  which,  Paul  says,  was  written 
by  Moses.  "  For  our  sakes,  no  doubt,  this  is  writ- 
ten," (ix.  10).  "  Neither  be  ye  idolaters,  as  were 
some  of  them,  "  as  it  is  written,"  (x.  7).  "Now 
all  these  things  happened  unto  them  for  ensamples 


THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    IX    THE    EPISTLES.  I  / 

[or  types];  and  they  are  written  for  our  admoni- 
tion," (x.  11).  "In  the  law  it  is  written,"  (xiv. 
21).  ^^  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the 
Scriptures;  and  that  he  was  buried,  and  that  he 
rose  again  the  third  day  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures," (xv.  3,  4).  According  to  what  Scriptures? 
The  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  and  in, fulfillment 
of  them,  because  they  are  from  God.  "And  so  it 
is  written,  The  first  man  Adam  was  made  a  living 
soul;  the  last  Adam  is  a  life-giving  spirit,"  (xv. 
45),  and  when  that  last  Adam  shall  return  from 
heaven,  "  then  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying 
that  is  written,  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory," 
(xv.  54). 

Passing  by  for  the  present  similar  allusions  to 
the  Old  Testament  in  the  second  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  which  would  show  the  apostle's  belief 
in  the  inspiration  of  the  words,  and  of  words  that 
may  seem  to  us  obscure  and  unimportant  in  the 
ancient  writings,  it  is  clear  that  in  the  epistle  to 
the  Galatians,  he  ascribes  to  the  Old  Testament 
Scripture  properties  that  belong  to  God  alone. 
"  The  Scripture,  foreseeing  that  God  would  justify 
the  heathen  through  faith,  preached  before  the  gos- 
pel unto  Abraham,"  (iii.  8).  How  could  the  Scrip- 
ture foresee  anything  ?  How  could  the  Scripture 
preach  ?  The  only  possible  answer  is  that  Scripture 
contains  the  very  words  of  God,  and  hence  it  is 
clothed  with  His  divine  perfections,  even  in  human 
form.  Hence  too  it  is  added,  "  the  Scripture  hath 
concluded  [shut  up]  all  under  sin,"  (iii.  22),  thus 
arming  Scripture  with  the  justice  and  power  of  the 
Almighty.     But  what  is  the  proof  that  all  are  under 


78  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

sin,  and  exposed  to  its  righteous  penalty  ?  ''  It  is 
written,  cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in 
all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law 
to  do  them,"  (iii.  10).  How  is  deliverance  from 
the  curse  obtained?  ''Christ  hath  redeemed  us 
from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for 
us ;  for  it  is  written,  cursed  is  every  one  that  hang- 
eth  on  a  tree,"  (iii.  13). 

It  is  well  to  notice  that  both  of  these  last  quota- 
tions are  from  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  and  that 
they  could  not  be  omitted  without  irreparable  loss. 
Perhaps  no  two  verses  in  the  Bible  have  been  more 
used  by  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  conviction  and  con- 
version of  men.  The  former  excludes  from  all  hope 
upon  the  ground  of  any  legal  obedience  or  personal 
righteousness,  because  it  is  written,  "Cursed  is 
every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which 
are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them." 
The  latter  points  out  the  only  way  of  escape : 
''  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the 
law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us :  for  it  is  written, 
cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree."  No 
doubt  millions  have  read  or  heard  these  two  verses, 
and  have  been  led  by  them  to  confess  themselves 
undone  sinners,  and  then  to  trust  in  Jesus  Christ 
as  an  all-sufficient  Saviour,  who  bore  the  curse  in 
their  stead.  But  if  the  book  was  not  written  until 
Josiah's  time,  the  unspeakable  blessing  it  has 
brought  to  souls  is  founded  upon  a  falsehood.  The 
higher  critics  tell  us  that  the  question  of  its  in- 
spiration is  not  affected  by  the  time  of  its  composi- 
tion or  by  its  human  authorship ;  but  since  the 
writer  asserts  that  the  discourses  found  in  the  book 


THE    OLD    TESTAMENT   IN    THE    EPISTLES.  7U 

were  delivered  in  the  plains  of  Moab,  in  the  last 
month  of  the  40  years'  wandering ;  since  we  con- 
stantly meet  in  it  such  expressions  as  "  when  the 
Lord  thy  God  bringeth  thee  into  the  land,"  and 
*'  when  ye  be  come  into  the  lajid,"  and  "  whither 
thou  goest  in  to  possess  it ;"  since  it  is  claimed  in 
almost  every  chapter  that  it  was  written  by  Moses, 
it  is  obvious  that  it  is  a  base  forgery,  and  unworthy 
of  the  least  respect,  if  it  was  not  composed  until 
hundreds  of  years  after  the  settlement  of  Israel  in 
the  land.  What  then  shall  be  done  with  the  testi- 
mony of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  apostles, 
who  again  and  again  quote  it  as  coming  from  God 
by  the  hand  of  Moses  ? 

But  notice  a  proof  of  Paul's  belief  in  verbal  in- 
spiration, when  he  adds  to  the  two  quotations  from 
Deuteronomy  a  quotation  from  Genesis  :  *'  Now  to 
Abraham  and  his  seed  were  the  promises  made. 
He  [that  is  God]  saith  not,  and  to  seeds,  as  of 
many  ;  but  as  of  one,  and  to  thy  seed,  which  is 
Christ,"  (iii.  16).  Here  the  argument  turns  entire- 
ly upon  the  difference  between  the  singular  and 
plural  numbers  of  the  noun,  and  if  the  apostle  was 
inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  equally  certain 
that  the  smallest  words,  and  inflections  of  words  are 
also  given  by  inspiration.  "It  is  written,  that 
Abraham  had  two  sons  ;  the  one  by  a  bond-maid, 
the  other  by  a  freewoman."  This  is  a  simple  nar- 
native  in  Genesis,  but  it  contains  a  profound  spirit- 
ual truth  which  is  brought  out  nearly  two  thousand 
years  later  as  we  read,  "  which  things  are  an  alle- 
gory ;  for  these  are  the  two  covenants."  The  apos- 
tle taught  by  the  Spirit  saw  in  the  words  of  a  family 


80  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

history  a  depth  and  meaning  we  could  never  have 
perceived,  and  he  explains  every  difficulty,  and 
meets  every  objection,  with  the  bold  challenge, 
''Nevertheless  what  saith  the  Scripture?'*  (iv. 
22-30).  This  for  him  is  evidently  the  same  as  God 
saying  it,  and  it  ought  to  be  enough  for  every 
believer. 

It  would  be  tedious  and  unprofitable  to  traverse 
each  epistle,  merely  to  accumulate  evidence  that 
the  Old  Testament  is  inspired  in  all  of  its  parts  and 
in  all  of  its  words.  Hence  it  will  be  better  to  rest 
the  remainder  of  the  argument  upon  a  few  leading 
passages,  which  will  be  accepted  as  clearly  and 
fully  teaching  the  doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration,  by 
every  mind  tl;iat  is  subject  in  any  respect  to  the 
authority  of  God's  word. 

In  the  last  epistle  which  Paul  was  directed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  write,  he  says  to  Timothy, 
"Continue  thou  in  the  things  which  thou  hast 
learned  and  hast  been  assuredof,  knowing  of  whom 
thou  hast  learned  them  ;  and  that  from  a  child  thou 
hast  known  the  holy  Scriptures,  which  are  able  to 
make  thee  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus.  All  Scripture  is  given  by  in- 
spiration of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for 
reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness, that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thor- 
oughly furnished  unto  all  good  works,"  (2  Tim. 
iii.  14-17). 

All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God. 
Scripture  means  writing,  and  a  writing  is  made  up 
of  words  and  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  The 
writing  here  includes  at  least  the  holy  Scriptures 


THE   OLD   TESTAMENT   IN    THE   EPISTLES.  81 

of  the  Old  Testament  with  which  Timothy  was 
familiar  from  early  childhood,  even  if  it  does  not 
refer  to  the  New  Testament ;  and  as  this  writing 
is  declared  to  be  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  it  is 
strange  that  any  Christian  hesitates  to  receive  the 
truth  of  verbal  inspiration.  If  it  be  replied  that  it 
is  difficult  to  understand  how  God  could  speak  in 
all  the  different  styles  of  human  language  found  in 
the  Bible,  is  it  any  easier  to  understand  how  God 
could  be  manifest  in  human  form,  encompassed 
with  all  human  infirmities,  save  sin?  In  either 
case  the  appeal  is  not  made  to  the  understanding, 
but  to  faith  ;  and  he  who  believes  that  the  divine 
and  the  human  co-exist  in  the  person  of  the  incar- 
nate Word,  may  readily  believe  that  the  divine  and 
the  human  co-exist  in  the  written  word.  But 
whether  received  or  rejected,  the  declaration  stands 
fast  forever,  that  "all  Scripture  is  given  by  in- 
spiration of  God,"  and  there  can  be  no  evasion  of 
its  meaning. 

Some  have  supposed  that  the  tremendous  force 
of  this  testimony  is  broken  by  the  translation  given 
in  the  Revised  Version,  "  Every  Scripture  inspired 
of  God  is  also  profitable  for  teaching."  But  the 
question  of  verbal  inspiration  is  not  in  the  least 
affected  by  the  proposed  change,  for  the  learned 
chairman  of  the  Revision  Committee  in  defending 
it  says,  "  it  enunciates  the  vital  truth  that  every 
separate  portion  of  the  living  book  is  inspired,  and 
forms  a  living  portion  of  a  living  organic  whole." 
Gaussen  says,  "  the  purport  of  this  declaration  of 
St.  Paul  remains  the  same  in  both  the  constructions 
that  may  be  put  upon  the  words,  whether  we 
6 


82  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

place,  as  our  versions  do  the  affirmative  of  the 
phrase  on  the  word  thcopneustos  (divinely  inspired), 
and  suppose  the  verb  to  be  understood  ('  all  scrip- 
ture is  divinely  inspired  ');  or,  making  the  verb  to 
apply  to  the  words  that  follow,  we  understand 
thcopneustos  only  as  a  determinative  adjective  ('all 
Scripture  divinely  inspired  of  God  is  profitable'). 
This  last  construction  would  even  give  more  force 
than  the  first  to  the  apostle's  declaration.  For 
then,  as  his  statement  would  necessarily  relate  to 
the  whole  Scripture  of  the  '  holy  writings,'  of 
which  he  had  been  speaking,  it  would  assume,  as 
an  admitted  and  incontestable  principle,  that  the 
simple  mention  of  the  holy  luritings  implies  of  itself 
that  Scriptures  ^  inspired  hy  God''  are  meant. ''^ 

Still  with  all  humility,  and  with  profound  re- 
spect for  the  able  Revision  Committee,  some  of 
whom  are  known  to  be  firm  believers  in  verbal  in- 
spiration, it  is  to  be  regretted  that  they  have  given 
us  the  new  translation  of  this  important  passage. 
It  makes  the  apostle  utter  the  merest  truism.  Of 
course  every  Scripture  inspired  of  God  is  also  x^ro- 
fitable,  and  it  needed  no  inspired  writer  to  tell  us 
that.  Who  would  think  of  saying,  "  every  whole- 
some article  of  diet  is  good  for  food?"  Yet  that 
would  be  as  sensible  as  the  statement,  ''  every 
Scripture  inspired  of  God  is  also  profitable." 
Moreover,  the  Revisers  are  inconsistent  with  them- 
selves in  presenting  such  a  translation.  We  find 
precisely  the  same  adjective  joined  with  a  noun  in 
the  singular  in  another  text,  which  they  render, 
''Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  therefore  know,"  (Acts 
ii.   36).     We  find  precisely  the  same  omission  of 


THE   OLD    TESTAMENT   IN    THE    EPISTLES.  83 

the  verb,  and  the  same  form  of  construction,  in  an- 
other passage  which  they  render,  ''  All  things  are 
naked  and  laid  open  before  the  eyes  of  Him  with 
whom  we  have  to  do,"  (Heb.  iv.  13).  Consistency 
would  have  required  them  to  render  it,  ''  All  things 
naked  are  also  laid  open." 

Perhaps  it  is  well  to  add  that  many  competent 
scholars  do  not  agree  with  the  translation  of  the 
Revised  Version.  The  American  Bible  Union 
renders  it,  ''  All  Scripture  is  inspired  by  God,  and 
is  profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  that  discipline  which  is  in  righteousness." 
McKnight  renders  it,  "  The  whole  Scripture  is  di- 
vinely inspired,  and  is  profitable  for  teaching,  for 
confutation,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  right- 
eousness." Even  the  Unitarian  Version  by  Dr. 
Noyes,  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  other  Oriental 
languages  in  Harvard  University,  published  by  the 
American  Unitarian  Association,  renders  it,  ''All 
Scripture  is  inspired  by  God,  and  is  profitable  for 
teaching,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  discipline 
in  righteousness."  Dr.  Young,  author  of  the  An- 
alytical Concordance  of  the  Bible,  renders  it, 
''  Every  writing  is  Godbreathed,  and  profitable  for 
teaching,  for  conviction,  for  setting  aright,  for  in- 
struction that  is  in  righteousness."  Rotherham 
renders  it,  "■  Every  Scripture  [is]  God-breathed, 
and  profitable  unto  instruction,  unto  correction, 
unto  discipline,  that  [which  is]  in  righteousness." 

Dr.  Fausset,  in  the  Critical  and  Experimental 
Commentary  says,  ''All  Scripture  [pasa  grajphe] — 
'  every  Scripture'  that  is,  Scripture  in  its  every 
part.     However,    '  all   Scripture'   is    a  justifiable 


84  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

translation,  as  the  technical  use  of  Scripture  is  so 
notorious  as  not  to  need  the  article.  Graphe  is 
never  used  of  any  writings  except  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures. The  position  of  the  two  Greek  adjectives 
[_theo2:)neustos  kai  ophelimos']  forbids  taking  the  one 
as  an  epithet,  the  other  as  predicate,  '  Every  Scrip- 
ture inspired  of  God  is  also  profitable.'  The  adjec- 
tives are  so  closely  connected  that  as  one  is  a  pre- 
dicate, the  other  must  be  so  too.  .  .  .  The  in- 
spiration gives  God's  sanction  to  all  the  words  of 
Scripture,"  and  ^^inspiration  is  predicated  of  the 
writings,  'All  Scripture,'  not  the  persons.  The 
question  is  not  hoiv  God  has  done  it :  it  is  as  to  the 
tvord  not  the  men  who  wrote  it.  All  the  sacred 
writings  are  everywhere  inspired,  though  not  all 
alike  matter  of  special  revelation  ;  even  the  words 
are  divinely  sanctioned,  as  Jesus  used  them,  (for 
example,  in  the  temptation,  and  John  x.  34,  35),  for 
deciding  all  questions  of  doctrine  and  practice. 
There  are  in  Scripture  degrees  of  revelation,  but  not 
of  inspiration.^^ 

Many  others  might  be  quoted  in  favor  of  the  old 
translation,  having  a  weight  of  authority  equal,  no 
doubt,  to  that  of  the  accomplished  scholars  who 
composed  the  Revision  Committee ;  but  this  would 
be  needless,  since  it  is  admitted  that  both  transla- 
tions are  equally  explicit  in  affirming  the  inspira- 
tion of  all  the  writings,  or  of  every  writing,  found 
in  the  holy  Scriptures.  These  writings,  made  up 
of  words  and  the  words  made  up  of  the  letters  of 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek  alphabets,  are  declared  to 
be  inspired  by  an  inspired  apostle,  and  why  should 
not  this  end  the  controversy?     Surely  it  ought  to 


THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    IN    THE    EPISTLES.  85 

satisfy  the  heart  of  every  believer,  and  silence  the 
objection  of  every  doubter.  There  is  no  getting 
around  the  testimony  ;  there  is  no  escape  from  the 
conclusion  to  which  it  leads  or  forces  every  humble 
and  honest  mind,  to  accept  the  very  words  of  the 
Bible  in  their  original  form  as  the  words  of  God. 
"All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God;" 
and  ought  not  the  evidence  borne  by  such  a  witness 
to  be  considered  as  conclusive  and  final?  "Yea, 
let  God  be  true,  but  every  man  a  liar  ;  as  it  is  writ- 
ten, That  thou  mightest  be  justified  in  thy  sayings, 
and  mightest  overcome  when  thou  art  judged." 

Turning  now  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  we 
are  met  at  the  very  outset  with  the  definite  testi- 
mony, "  God,  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers 
manners,  spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by 
the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  unto 
us  by  his  Son,"  (i.  1,  2).  Who  spoke?  God. 
How  did  He  speak  ?  In  divers  measures  and  in 
divers  manners  by,  or  rather  m,  the  prophets,  God 
clothing  His  words  in  the  garments  of  the  proph- 
et's individuality.  The  prophets  here  plainly  in- 
clude all  those  through  whom  God  revealed  His 
purpose  or  will  from  Moses  to  Malachi,  and  the 
same  God  who  not  only  thought,  but  spake,  as 
distinctly  affirmed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  all 
the  ancient  prophets,  hath  in  these  last  days 
spoken  unto  us  in  His  Son.  Well  might  Dr.  Lind- 
say, in  his  commentary  on  the  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  say,  "  The  inspiration  of  the  sacred  ora- 
cles is  proved  by  the  declaration  of  the  apostle  in 
the  passage  before  us.  The  words  of  the  prophets 
are  God's  words;   the  words  of  Christ  are   God's 


86  IS   THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

words,  and  the  words  of  the  men  sent  forth  by 
Christ  are  God's  words." 

It  is  still  God  who  speaks  in  the  second  Psalm 
when  it  is  added,  "  Unto  which  of  the  angels  said 
He  at  any  time,  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I 
begotten  thee?  And  again  [in  2  Sam.  vii.  14]  I 
will  be  to  him  a  Father,  and  he  shall  be  to  me  a 
Son  ?  And  again,  when  he  bringeth  in  the  first  be- 
gotten into  the  world,  HE  saith  [in  the  97th  Psalm] 
And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him.  And 
of  the  angels  HE  saith  [in  the  104th  Psalm],  who 
maketh  his  angels  spirits,  and  his  ministers  a  flame 
of  fire.  But  unto  the  Son  ['  HE  saith  '  being  plain- 
ly implied].  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  forever  and 
ever" — a  quotation  from  the  45th  Psalm.  "But 
to  which  of  the  angels  said  HE  at  any  time,  sit  on 
my  right  hand" — a  quotation  from  the  110th 
Psalm.  We  find  here  seven  distinct  declarations 
in  the  first  chapter  of  Hebrews,  that  it  was  God 
who  spoke  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  A 
learned  theological  professor  says  in  a  recent  book, 
"we  have  found  that  the  results  of  the  textual 
criticism  are  in  conflict  with  verbal  inspiration,  but 
not  with  the  symbolical  doctrine  of  inspiration 
[whatever  that  is].  If  it  should  be  found  that  the 
results  of  the  higher  criticism  are  in  conflict  with 
other  school  doctrines  of  inspiration,  it  is  import- 
ant that  these  doctrines  should  be  changed  as  soon 
as  possible  to  accord  with  these  results." 

Would  it  not  be  a  little  more  modest  to  say,  it  is 
important  that  the  results  of  the  higher  criticism 
should  be  changed  as  soon  as  possible  to  accord 
with  the  plain  testimony  of  God's   word  ?    Seven 


THE   OLD    TESTAMENT   IN    THE    EPISTLES.  87 

times  in  one  short  chapter,  an  inspired  critic  says 
it  was  God  who  spoke  in  the  Old  Testament  writ- 
ings. A  so-called  and  self-named  higher  critic  says 
God  could  not  have  spoken.  Which  of  the  two 
witnesses  will  it  be  wise  for  Christians  to  believe  ? 
No  matter  what  textual  criticism  may  show  con- 
cerning the  changes  or  corruptions  of  the  original 
text,  since  the  believer  in  verbal  inspiration  never 
affirms  that  the  changes,  ot  corruptions,  or  even 
the  best  translations  are  inspired,  but  only  that 
when  the  true  text  is  discovered,  the  words  of  that 
text  according  to  the  testimony  of  all  the  prophets, 
and  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  all  the  apostles,  are  the 
very  words  of  God,  The  entire  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  which  is  little  more  than  an  inspired 
commentary  upon  the  words  of  the  Old  Testament, 
assumes  throughout  the  doctrine  of  verbal  inspira- 
tion which  the  higher  criticism  rejects. 

' '  Wherefore,  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith  [in  the  95th 
Psalm],  To-day  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden 
not  your  hearts,  as  in  the  provocation,  in  the  day 
of  temptation  in  the  wilderness  ;  when  your  fathers 
tempted  ME  [that  is,  God},  proved  me,  and  saw 
my  works  forty  years.  Wherefore  I,  [that  is,  God 
is  the  speaker]  was  grieved  with  that  generation ; 
.  .  .  and  to  whom  sware  He  that  they  should 
not  enter  into  his  rest  ?"  (iii.  7-18).  So  in  the  next 
chapter;  ''As  HE  said,  [that  is,  God  said]  As  I 
[that  is,  God]  have  sworn,  if  they  shall  enter  into 
my  rest.  .  .  .  For  HE  spake  in  a  certain  place 
of  the  seventh  day  on  this  wise.  .  .  .  Again, 
HE  limiteth  a  certain  day,  saying  in  David,"  that 
is,  God  saying  in  David,    (iv.  1-7).     "As  HE  saith 


88  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

also  in  another  place,  Thou  art  a  priest  forever  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek,"  (v.  6).  "For  when 
God  made  promise  to  Abraham,  because  he  could 
sware  by  no  greater,  he  sware  by  himself,  saying," 
that  is,  God  said  it,  (vi.  13).  ''  For  HE  testifieth 
[that  is,  God  testifieth].  Thou  art  a  priest  forever," 
(vii.  17).  "■  For  finding  fault  with  them,  HEsaith, 
Behold,  the  days  come,  SAITH  the  Lord,  when  I 
will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel. 
.  .  .  In  that  HE  saith,  a  new  covenant,  he  hath 
made  the  first  old,"  (viii.  8-13).  "The  Holy 
Ghost  this  signifying,"  (ix.  8).  "Whereof  the 
Holy  Ghost  also  is  a  witness  to  us  :  for  after  that 
HE  had  said  before,"  (x.  15).  "  For  we  know  him 
that  hath  said,  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me,  I 
will  recompense,  saith  the  Lord,"  (x.  30)  ;  and  God 
says  it  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  which  the 
higher  criticism  pronounces  a  forgery  or  fraud. 

So  thoroughly  persuaded  was  the  apostle  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  that  it  was  God  who  spake  in  the  Old 
Testament  prophets,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  rest  a 
most  important  doctrine  and  prediction  upon  a 
little  word,  which  we  would  certainly  have  over- 
looked. "  Whose  voice  then  shook  the  earth  :  but 
now  he  hath  promised  [in  Hag.  ii.  6],  saying,  Yet 
once  more,  I  shake  not  the  earth  only,  but  also 
heaven.  And  this  word,  Yet  once  more,  signifieth 
the  removing  of  those  things  that  are  shaken,  as  of 
things  that  are  made,  that  those  things  which  can 
not  be  shaken  may  remain.  Wherefore,  we  receiv- 
ing a  kingdom  which  can  not  be  moved,  let  us  have 
grace,  whereby  we  may  serve  God  acceptably  with 
reverence  and  godly  fear  :  for  our  God  is  a  consum- 


THE   OLD   TESTAMENT   IN   THE   EPISTLES.  89 

ing  fire,"  (xii.  26-29).  Does  not  this  suggest  to  us 
the  importance  of  a  careful  and  devout  study  of 
every  word  of  the  Bible,  and  not  to  be  content  with 
trying  to  catch  the  vague,  indefinite  spirit  of  a 
book,  whose  least  expression  may  involve  the  most 
momentous  consequences?  There  is  a  profound 
reverence  manifested  by  the  inspired  writers  them- 
selves for  the  very  letter  of  the  Scriptures,  which, 
however  offensive  to  higher  criticism  and  ridiculed 
as  bibliolatry,  we  would  do  well  to  imitate. 

But  these  writers  did  not  always  know  the  full 
significance  of  their  testimony,  and  hence  it  is  cer- 
tain that  their  very  words  must  have  been  divinely 
inspired.  "  Of  which  salvation  the  prophets  have 
inquired  and  searched  diligently,  who  prophesied 
of  the  grace  that  should  come  unto  you  :  searching 
what,  or  what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
which  was  in  them  did  signify,  when  it  testified  be- 
forehand the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  that 
should  follow.  Unto  whom  it  was  revealed,  that 
not  unto  themselves,  but  unto  us  they  did  minister 
the  things,  which  are  now  reported  unto  you  by 
them  that  have  preached  the  gospel  unto  you  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven  ;  which 
things  the  angels  desire  to  look  into,"  (1  Pet.  i. 
10-12).  Understanding  but  imperfectly  their  own 
predictions,  they  searched  diligently  into  the  mean- 
ing of  things  which  they  were  taught  by  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  within  them,  showing  that  while  they 
were  in  full  accord  with  the  mind  of  God,  still  they 
were  indebted  for  their  communications  to  a  wis- 
dom far  beyond  the  grasp  of  their  own  thoughts 
and  the  reach  of  their  own  attainments. 


90  IS    THE    BIBLE    INSPIRED? 

This  also  throws  light  upon  another  passage  in 
the  second  epistle,  which  has  perplexed  many. 
''  Knowing  this  first,  that  no  prophecy  of  the  scrip- 
ture is  of  any  private  interpretation.  For  the 
prophecy  came  not  in  old  time  by  the  will  of  man : 
but  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  (2  Pet.  i.  20,  21).  The  prophets 
did  not  of  themselves  interpret  the  revelations  of 
God,  for  as  no  prophecy  is  of  any  private,  literally, 
of  one's  own  interpretation,  it  could  not  be  the  re- 
sult of  the  prophets'  conjectures  as  to  the  future, 
since  they  did  not  themselves  perceive  the  full  ex- 
tent and  vast  sweep  of  their  own  supernatural  pre- 
dictions. "  For  prophecy  was  never  sent  after  the 
will  of  man  :  but  men  had  utterance  from  God,  be- 
ing moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  Such  is  Alford's 
fine  rendering,  or  as  the  Revised  Version  has  it, 
''  No  prophecy  ever  came  [Greek,  was  brought]  by 
the  will  of  man ;  but  men  spake  from  God,  being 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  But  whatever  trans- 
lation may  be  adopted,  if  the  text  does  not  teach 
the  doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration,  it  can  not  be 
taught  in  human  language.  The  prophets,  includ- 
ing all  who  revealed  the  divine  purposes,  were  not 
under  the  control  of  their  own  will,  but  they  spake, 
not  thought,  but  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  or  they  had  utterance  from  God.  The 
higher  critics  may  urge  a  thousand  objections  to  the 
doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration,  but  they  dwindle 
into  insignificance  before  this  explicit  and  unim- 
peachable testimony  of  the  apostle  Peter.  More- 
over, it  will  be  found  that  men  practically  must 
believe  in  verbal  inspiration,  or  they  will   not  be- 


THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    IN    THE    EPISTLES.  91 

lieve  in  any  inspiration  at  all ;  for  it  is  a  glaring 
contradiction  in  terms  to  say  that  the  scriptures  or 
writings  are  inspired,  while  the  words  that  make 
up  these  writings  are  uninspired. 

But  surely  it  is  needless  to  continue  the  argu- 
ment for  the  verbal  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. More  than  two  hundred  texts  have  been 
cited,  which  distinctly  affirm  this  truth,  and  these 
do  not  by  any  means  exhaust  all  that  might  have 
been  quoted  in  its  defence.  No  intelligent  reader 
of  the  ancient  scriptures  can  fail  to  see  that  the 
writers  claim  on  every  page  to  be  the  mouth-piece 
of  God,  uttering  words  which  He  commanded  them 
to  speak ;  and  this  claim  is  fully  sustained  in  the 
Gospels,  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  Epistles  of  the 
New  Testament.  Nothing  more  can  be  done  for 
those  who  remain  unconvinced  by  such  testimony. 
If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  followed 
and  corroborated  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
Apostles,  ^'neither  will  they  be  persuaded,  though 
one  rose  from  the  dead." 


VII. 
THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

M[0  argnment  is  needed  to  prove  the  inspiration  of 
Jei.  the  words  that  were  spoken  by  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Even  the  higher  criticism  will  cer- 
tainly admit  that  here  at  least  the  theory  of  inspir- 
ed thoughts,  leaving  the  language  to  the  chances 
of  human  ignorance  or  mistake,  falls  very  far  short 
of  the  truth.  It  will  be  conceded  by  all  who  have 
any  right  to  be  called  Christians,  that  both  the 
thoughts  and  the  words  of  the  Saviour  were  ab- 
solutely free  from  the  slightest  error  or  imperfec- 
tion. He  himself  declares,  ^'  The  words  that  I 
speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life," 
leading  Peter  to  respond  for  all  the  apostles,  ' '  Thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life,"  (John  vi.  68-68). 
It  is  not  suprising,  therefore,  to  find  Him  placing 
the  stamp  of  immortality  upon  these  marvellous 
words,  when  He  said,  '^  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
away,  but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away,"  (Matt, 
xxiv.  35). 

It  may  be  well  to  glance  at  His  testimony  to  the 
unspeakable  importance  and  priceless  value  of  the 
very  words  that  fell  from  his  lips,  for  it  will  be 
seen  that  He  attaches  the  same  divine  authority 
and  weighty  import  to  the  words  spoken  and  writ- 
ten by  those  whom  He  sent  into  the  world  as  His 
ambassadors.  Scattered  through  the  gospels  are 
statements  like  the  following:  ''Whosoever  hear- 
eth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and  doeth  them,  I  will 

92 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE    NEW   TESTAMENT.  93 

liken  him  unto  a  wise  man,  which  built  his  house 
upon  a  rock,"  (Matt.  vii.  24).  ''  Whosoever  shall 
not  receive  you,  nor  hear  your  words,  when  ye  de- 
part out  of  that  house  or  city,  shake  off  the  dust  of 
your  feet.  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  It  shall  be  more 
tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in 
the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  that  city,"  (Matt.  x.  14, 
15).  ''  He  that  rejecteth  me,  and  receiveth  not  my 
words,  hath  one  that  judgeth  him  :  the  word  that  I 
have  spoken,  the  same  shall  judge  him  at  the  last 
day,"  (John  xii.  48).  ''He  that  receiveth  whom- 
soever I  send  receiveth  me :  and  he  that  receiveth 
me  receiveth  him  that  sent  me,"  (John  xiii.  20). 
'' He  that  loveth  me  not  keepeth  not  my  sayings: 
and  the  word  which  ye  hear  is  not  mine,  but  the 
Father's  which  sent  me,"  (John  xiv.  24).  *^If 
they  have  kept  my  saying,  they  will  keep  yours 
also,"  (John  XV.  20).  *'I  have  given  unto  them 
the  words  which  thou  gavest  me  .  .  .  Neither 
pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which 
shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word,"  (John 
xvii.  8,  20). 

But  still  more  explicitly  He  promised  them  on 
three  different  occasions  an  inspiration,  which  be- 
yond all  question  extended  to  the  words  they  were 
to  utter.  Thus  at  their  first  commission  to  preach 
to  none  but  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel, 
He  said  to  them,  ''When  they  deliver  you  up, 
take  no  thought  how  or  what  ye  shall  speak ;  for  it 
shall  be  given  you  in  that  same  hour  what  ye  shall 
speak.  For  it  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit 
of  your  Father  which  speaketh  in  you,"  (Matt.  x. 
19,  20).     At  another  time  in   connection   with  the 


94  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

duty  of  confessing  His  name,  He  said,  '^  When  they 
bring  you  unto  the  synagogues,  and  unto  magis- 
trates, and  powers,  take  ye  no  thought  how  or  what 
thing  ye  shall  answer,  or  what  ye  shall  say  :  for 
the  Holy  Ghost  shall  teach  you  in  the  same  hour 
what  ye  ought  to  say,"  (Luke  xii.  11,  12).  Still 
later,  in  His  farewell  discourse  that  looks  on  to  the 
evils  of  the  last  days,  He  repeated  the  charge  and 
promise,  "When  they  shall  lead  you,  and  deliver 
you  up,  take  no  thought  beforehand  what  ye  shall 
speak  neither  do  ye  premeditate  ;  but  whatsoever 
shall  be  given  you  in  that  hour,  that  speak  ye  :  for 
it  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Holy  Ghost," 
(Mark  xiii.  11). 

If  these  assurances  do  not  guarantee  verbal  in- 
spiration to  the  apostles,  at  least  for  the  purpose  of 
defence  against  their  adversaries,  the  doctrine  can 
not  be  taught  in  human  language.  It  will  be  ob- 
served that  three  times  our  Lord  forbids  them  to 
think  beforehand  how  or  what  they  were  to  speak, 
to  premeditate,  to  feel  the  slightest  concern  about 
the  best  way  to  answer  their  accusers,  because  they 
would  be  no  more  responsible  for  their  words  than 
children  repeating  the  lesson  they  have  heard  from 
the  master,  because  the  Holy  Ghost  would  teach 
them  what  to  say  and  how  to  say.  Of  course  it 
would  be  a  ridiculous  perversion  of  these  remarka- 
ble promises,  if  a  minister  of  Christ,  or  other  w^it- 
ness  for  Him,  were  to  plead  them  as  an  excuse  for 
indifference,  or  indolence,  or  neglect  of  preparation 
to  speak  in  His  name ;  but  it  would  have  been 
gross  disobedience  and  unbelief,  had  the  apostles 
thought  beforehand   for   a    single  moment  of  the 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.  95 

speech  they  were  to  delWer  to  their  enemies,  or  of 
the  best  method  of  presenting  their  cause. 

They  were  often  arrainged  at  the  bar  of  Jewish 
and  Gentile  rulers,  when  the  thrice-repeated  in- 
struction of  their  Lord  would  be  recalled  as  a  solace 
to  their  fainting  hearts  ;  and  never  did  they  more 
require  its  comfort  and  encouragement  than  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  in  the  presence  of  a  scoffing  mob. 
Accordingly  we  are  told  that,  ''  they  were  all  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with 
other  tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance. 
And  there  were  dwelling  at  Jerusalem  Jews,  devout 
men,  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven.  Now  when 
this  was  noised  abroad,  the  multitude  came  to- 
gether, and  were  confounded,  because  that  every 
man  heard  them  speak  in  his  own  language.  And 
they  were  all  amazed  and  marvelled,  saying  one  to 
another.  Behold,  are  not  all  these  that  speak  Gal- 
lilaeans  ?  And  how  hear  we  every  man  in  our  own 
tongue,  wherein  we  were  born?  Parthians  and 
Medes,  and  Elamites,  and  the  dwellers  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, and  in  Judsea,  and  Cappadocia,  in  Pontus, 
and  Asia,  Phrygia  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt,  and 
in  the  parts  of  Lybia  about  Cyrene,  and  strangers 
of  Rome,  Jews  and  Proselytes,  Cretes  and  Arabians, 
we  do  hear  them  speak  in  our  tongues  the  wonder- 
ful works  of  God,"  (Acts  ii.  4-11). 

Surely  in  this  instance  there  can  be  no  dispute 
concerning  the  fact  of  verbal  inspiration.  Even  if 
the  nonsensical  notion  were  true  that  the  apostles 
spoke  in  their  native  tongue,  and  that  their  words 
were  translated  in  passing  from  their  lips  into  the 
various  languages  of  every  nation  under  heaven, 


96  IS    THE    BIBLE    INSPIRED? 

still  there  could  be  no  getting  rid  of  verbal  inspira- 
tion. If  a  number  of  illiterate  American  fishermen 
were  heard  speaking  intelligibly  and  accurately  in 
all  the  dialects  of  Europe  and  Asia,  or  if  their 
English  words  were  instantly  conveyed  to  the 
assembled  representatives  of  these  countries  in  the 
different  languages  with  which  they  were  familiar, 
in  either  case  there  would  be  a  mighty  miracle,  a 
plain  interposition  of  God's  hand,  a  manifest  con- 
trol of  the  very  words  by  divine  power.  But  when 
we  remember  that  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  dispensation  of  the  Spirit, 
and  that  it  was  obviously  designed  to  symbolize  the 
grand  purpose  and  wide  range  of  the  dispensation, 
it  is  a  truth  of  no  small  significance  that  the 
Church  age  was  ushered  in  by  men,  who  spoke  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whether 
they  afterwards  spoke  and  wrote  in  the  same  way 
or  not,  none  can  deny  that  the  coming  of  God's 
grace  to  the  world  rested  at  first  upon  the  truth  of 
verbal  inspiration. 

In  what  degree  the  Epistles  are  inspired  is  to  be 
determined,  in  the  first  place,  by  the  Saviour's 
promise  of  infallible  guidance  to  their  writers.  In 
their  official  utterances  they  were  to  be  His  mouth- 
piece and  representatives,  and  in  their  communi- 
cations to  Jew  or  Gentile  He  linked  His  divine 
authority  to  their  words  in  indissoluble  union. 
*'  He  that  receiveth  you,  receiveth  me  ;  and  he  that 
receiveth  me,  receiveth  him  that  sent  me,"  (Matt.  x. 
40).  *'  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me  ;  and  he 
that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me  ;  and  he  that  de- 
spiseth  me  despiseth  him  that  sent  me,"  (Luke  x. 


INSPIRATION   OF   THE   NEW    TESTAMENT.  97 

16).  ''As  thou  hast  sent  me  into  the  world,  even 
so  have  I  also  sent  them  mto  the  world,"  (John 
xvii.  18).  ''As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so 
send  I  you.  And  when  he  had  said  this  he  breathed 
on  them,  and  said  unto  them,  Receive  ye  the  Holy 
Ghost :  whose  soever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted 
unto  them  ;  and  whose  soever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are 
retained,"  (John  xx.  21-23). 

Still  more  explicitly  He  said  to  them,  "The 
Comforter,  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will 
send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and 
bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever 
I  have  said  unto  you,"  (John  xiv.  26).  "When 
the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you 
from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  trujth,  which 
proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify  of  me  : 
and  ye  also  shall  bear  witness  because  ye  have  been 
with  me  from  the  beginning,"  (John  xv.  26,  27). 
"  When  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  will 
guide  you  into  all  truth  :  for  he  shall  not  speak  of 
himself;  but  whatsoever  he  shall  hear  that  shall  he 
speak  :  and  he  will  show  you  things  to  come.  He 
shall  glorify  me  :  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and 
shall  show  it  unto  you,"  (John  xv.  13,  14). 

Keeping  these  promises  in  view,  we  are  prepared 
in  the  second  place  to  notice  the  testimony  of  the 
apostles  themselves  concerning  the  nature  and  ex- 
tent of  the  inspiration  that  attaches  to  their  writ- 
ings. ' '  Now  we  have  received  not  the  Spirit  of  the 
world,  but  the  Spirit  which  is  of  God ;  that  we 
might  know  the  things  that  are  freely  given  to  us 
of  God.  Which  things  also  we  speak,  not  in  the 
words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the 


98  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

Holy  Ghost  teacheth ;  comparing  spiritual  things 
with  spiritual  [or  rather,  combining  the  Spirit's 
thoughts  with  the  Spirit's  words].  But  the  natural 
man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God ; 
for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him :  neither  can  he 
know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned. 
But  he  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  [margin,  discerneth] 
all  things,  yet  he  himself  is  judged  of  no  man. 
For  who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the  Lord,  that  he 
may  instruct  him?  But  w^e  have  the  mind  of 
Christ,"  (1  Cor.  ii.  12-16).  If  this  does  not  assert 
the  truth  of  verbal  inspiration,  it  is  difficult  to  im- 
agine how  it  can  be  expressed.  Not  only  does  the 
apostle  declare  that  he  has  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
the  mind  of  Christ,  but  that  the  language  he  used 
was  in  the  words  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth. 

Accordingly  we  find  one  who  speaks  of  himself 
as  ''the  least  of  the  apostles,"  (1  Cor.  xv.  9),  and 
still  later,  as  ''less  than  the  least  of  all  saints," 
(Eph.  iii.  8),  and  later  still,  as  the  chief  of  sinners, 
(1  Tim.  i.  15),  exalting  his  word  to  a  level  with  the 
word  of  the  divine  Redeemer.  "  Unto  the  married 
.1  command,  yet  not  I,  but  the  Lord,  Let  not  the 
wife  depart  from  her  husband."  That  is,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Himself  had  given  a  positive  command  to 
this  effect.  "  But  to  the  rest  speak  I,  not  the  Lord." 
That  is,  the  Lord  had  said  nothing  about  the  ques- 
tion now  presented,  but  the  apostle  says  something, 
and  his  decision  is  no  less  binding  than  if  it  had 
been  spoken  by  the  Lord.  Nay,  he  repeals  and 
abolishes  the  Old  Testament  law  with  regard  to 
separation  between  husband  and  wife,  and  there- 
fore he  claims  for  his   words,  the  highest  possible 


INSPIRATION    OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.  99 

degree  of  authority  and  inspiration.  ''Now  con- 
cerning virgins,"  he  adds,  ''  I  have  no  command- 
ment of  the  Lord ;  yet  I  give  my  judgment,  as  one 
that  hath  obtained  mercy  of  the  Lord  to  be  faith- 
ful." That  is,  the  Lord  had  given  no  command- 
ment concerning  them,  but  the  mercy  that  enabled 
him  to  be  faithful  as  an  apostle  in  speaking  accord- 
ing to  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  led  him  to  pronounce 
a  judgment,  which  must  be  accepted  as  if  coming 
from  the  throne  of  the  Almightv,  (1  Cor.  vii. 
10,  12,  25). 

It  is  impossible,  therefore,  that  the  same  apostle 
could  cast  doubt  upon  his  inspiration  in  the  last  / 
verse  of  the  same  chapter  where  he  says,  ^'I  think 
also  that  I  have  the  Spirit  of  God,"  or  as  the  Re- 
vised Version  better  renders  it,  ''I  think  that  I 
also  have  the  Spirit  of  God,"  or  as  the  Emphatic 
Diaglott  translates  it  upon  the  authority  of  the  Vat- 
ican manuscript,  ' '  I  am  certain  that  even  I  have 
the  Spirit  of  God."  But  let  the  reading  of  our 
common  version  stand  as  it  is,  audit  still  furnishes 
the  strongest  testimony  to  the  inspiration  of  Paul's 
words.  Other  teachers  had  visited  the  Corinthians, 
claiming  to  speak  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  with  a 
telling  allusion  to  these  he  writes,  I  think  that  I 
also  have  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  is  as  if  one,  perfectly 
familiar  with  a  subject,  should  say  in  the  face  of 
those  who  cavilled  at  his  proficiency,  or  boasted  of 
their  attainments,  I  think  that  I  also  know  some- 
thing ofithe  matter  in  hand.  He  would  not  by  this 
language  concede  his  ignorance,  but  rather  positive- 
ly assert  his  superiority.  Hence  the  apostle  follows 
up  his  testimony  with  the  solemn  charge,  ''  If  any 


100  IS    THE   BIBLE    INSPIRED  ? 

• 

man  think  himself  to  be  a  prophet,  or  spiritual,  let 
him  acknowledge  that  the  things  which  I  write 
unto  you,  are  the  commandments  of  the  Lord," 
(1  Cor.  xiv.  37).  Thus  does  this  humble  man, 
when  he  writes  as  an  apostle,  link  his  words  with 
the  words  of  the  ascended  Saviour,  and  require 
an  acknowledgement  of  their  divine  origin  and 
sovereignty. 

In  the  same  chapter  he  says,  ''  I  thank  my  God, 
I  speak  with  tongues  more  than  ye  all,"  and 
these  tongues  were  not  acquired  by  human  learning, 
but  imparted  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Again  he  says, 
''  since  ye  seek  a  proof  of  Christ  speaking  in  me, 
which  to  you-ward  is  not  weak,  but  is  mighty  in 
you,"  (2  Cor.  xiii.  3).  It  is  not  Christ  inspiring 
his  thoughts,  but  Christ  speaking  in  him  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  according  to  His  promise.  Again  he 
says,  ''I  certify  you,  brethren,  that  the  gospel 
which  was  preached  of  me  is  not  after  man.  For  I 
neither  received  it  of  man,  neither  was  I  taught  it, 
but  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,"  (Gal.  i.  11, 
12).  Again  he  says,  ''by  revelation  he  made  known 
unto  me  the  mystery ;  (as  I  wrote  afore  in  few 
words,  whereby,  when  ye  read,  ye  may  understand 
my  knowledge  in  the  mystery  of  Christ)  ;  which  in 
other  ages  was  not  made  known  unto  the  sons  of 
men,  as  it  is  now  revealed  unto  his  holy  apostles 
and  prophets  by  the  Spirit,"  (Eph.  iii.  3-5).  ''  For 
this  cause  also,  thank  we  God  without  ceasing,  be- 
cause, when  ye  received  the  word  of  God  which  ye 
heard  of  us,  ye  received  it  not  as  the  word  of  man, 
but,  as  it  is  in  truth,  the  word  of  God,  which 
effectually  worketh    also    in    you    that  believe,'' 


INSPIRATION    OF    THE    NEW   TESTAMENT.  101 

(1  Thess.  ii.  13).  "  He  therefore  that  despiseth, 
despiseth  not  man,  but  God,  who  hath  also  given 
unto  us  his  Holy  Spirit,"  (1  Thess.  iv.  8). 
''  Therefore,  brethren,  stand  fast,  and  hold  the  tra- 
ditions [instructions,  injunctions  delivered],  which 
ye  have  been  taught,  whether  by  word,  or  our  epis- 
tle," (2  Thess.  ii.  15).  ''  Hold  fast  the  form  [the 
pattern,  or  exact  type,  or  concise  representation] 
of  sound  words,  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me," 
(2  Tim.  i.  13).  Surely  the  plenary  and  verbal 
inspiration  of  the  apostle's  writings  could  not  be 
asserted  in  stronger  terms. 

It  may  be  well  to  follow  Paul's  distinct  and  re- 
peated claim  for  the  inspiration  of  his  epistles  with 
the  testimony  of  another  apostle.  ''Even  as  our 
beloved  brother  Paul  also,  according  to  the  wisdom 
given  unto  him,  hath  written  unto  you  ;  as  also  in 
all  his  epistles,  speaking  in  them  of  these  things  ; 
in  which  are  some  things  hard  to  be  understood, 
which  they  that  are  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest^ 
as  they  do  also  the  other  Scriptures,  unto  their  own 
destruction,"  (2  Peter  iii.  15-16).  Here  it  will  be 
observed,  Peter  places  all  of  Paul's  epistles  on  pre- 
cisely the  same  high  plane  of  divine  authority  held 
by  the  other  Scriptures,  which,  as  abundantly 
proved,  both  by  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  were 
inspired  in  their  very  words,  and  in  the  minutest 
inflection  of  their  words. 

But  Peter  also  takes  his  stand  by  the  side  of  Paul, 
when  he  says  in  the  same  chapter,  "  that  ye  may 
be  mindful  of  the  words  which  were  spoken  before 
by  the  holy  prophets,  and  of  the  commandment  of 
us  the  apostles  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour,"  (2  Peter 


■J 


\/ 


^i 


102  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

iii.  2).  He  charges  the  scattered  flock  of  God  to  be 
mindful  of  the  wo-rds,  not  of  the  thoughts,  but  of 
the  words  spoken  and  written  by  all  in  former 
times  who  had  revealed  the  will  of  Jehovah,  and 
then  immediately  puts  his  commandment,  and  the 
commandment  or  words  of  the  other  apostles,  on  an 
equality  with  the  authoritative  declarations  of  in- 
spired prophets.  The  reason  for  this  remarkable 
demand  upon  the  faith  and  obedience  of  Christians 
he  gives  in  his  first  epistle,  where  he  shows  that 
it  was  the  Spirit  of  Christ  moving  the  Old  Testa- 
ment prophets,  ''  unto  whom  it  was  revealed,  that 
not  unto  themselves,  but  unto  us  did  they  minister 
the  things,  which  are  now  reported  unto  you  by 
them  that  have  preached  the  Gospel  unto  you 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven," 
(1  Peter  i.  12). 

Here,  too.  New  Testament  apostles  are  classed 
with  Old  Testament  prophets,  of  whom  the  same 
writer  declares  that  they  '^  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Hence  another  apos- 
tle says,  '^  Beloved,  remember  ye  the  words,  [the 
very  words,  mark],  which  were  spoken  before  of 
the  apostles  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  how  that 
they  told  you  there  should  be  mockers  in  the  last 
times,  who  should  walk  after  their  own  ungodly 
lusts,"  (Jude  17,  18).  Still  another  apostle  tells 
us  that  ''  every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is 
from  above,  and  cometh  down  from  the  Father  o 
lights,  with  whom  is  no  variableness,  neither 
shadow  of  turning.  Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us 
with  the  word  of  truth,  that  we  should  be  a  kind 
of  first  fruits  of  his  creatures.     .     .     .     Wherefore 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   XEW   TESTAMENT.  103 

lay  apart  all  filthiness  and  superfluity  of  naughti- 
ness, and  receive  with  meekness  the  engrafted 
word,  which  is  able  to  save  your  souls.  But  be  ye 
doers  of  the  word,  and  not  hearers  only,  deceiving 
your  own  selves,"  (Jas.  i.  17-22). 

Thus  do  all  of  the  apostles  claim  for  the  words 
of  the  Bible,  including  their  own  words,  the  in- 
spiration and  authority  of  God,  and  this  ought  to 
be  sufficient  with  every  true  Christian  to  settle  the 
question  against  all  the  theories  and  objections  of 
the  higher  criticism  or  any  other  kind  of  criticism. 
The  last  of  the  apostles,  at  the  very  close  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  says  of  a  book  so  full  of  sym- 
bolical language  few  perhaps  really  study  it,  and 
fewer  still  pretend  to  understand  it,  ''  I  testify  unto 
every  man  that  heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy 
of  this  book.  If  any  man  shall  add  unto  them,  God^ 
shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  which  are  written 
in  this  book  :  and  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from 
the  words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall 
take  away  his  part  from  the  tree  of  life,  and  out  of 
the  holy  city,  which  are  written  in  this  book," 
(Rev.  xxii.  18,  19,  Revised  Version).  This  is  the 
final  utterance  of  inspiration  and  of  revelation  ex- 
cept the  sweet  promise  and  benediction,  ''He 
which  testifieth  these  things  saith.  Surely  I  come 
quickly  ;  Amen.  Even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus.  The 
graceof  the  Lord  Jesus  be  with  the  saints.     Amen." 

The  first  man  who  was  employed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  His  amanuensis  said,  "  Ye  shall  not  add 
tmto  the  word  which  I  command  you,  neither  shall 
ye  diminish  ought  from  it,"  (Deut,  iv.  2),  and  the 
last  man  employed  by  the  same  Spirit,  nearly  six- 


104  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

teen  hundred  years  later,  distinctly  testifies  unto 
every  man  that  heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy 
of  this  book,  '^  If  any  man  shall  add  unto  them, 
God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  which  are 
written  in  this  book :  and  if  any  man  shall  take 
away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy, 
God  shall  take  away  his  part  from  the  tree  of  life." 
Truly  a  terrible  warning  we  have  here,  which  it 
would  be  well  for  all  to  heed,  and  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  the  warning  refers,  not  to  the  thoughts, 
but  to  the  words  of  scripture,  beginning  with  the 
Pentateuch  and  ending  with  the  Apocalypse. 

Of  course  the  threat  of  punishment  against  those 
who  trifle  with  the  words  of  the  Revelation  applies 
to  every  part  of  the  Bible,  the  whole  of  which,  it 
has  been  abundantly  proved,  is  given  by  inspira- 
tion of  God;  and  hence  the  believer  reads  with  sur- 
prise and  sadness  statements  like  the  following, 
scattered  through  a  book  recently  sent  forth  by  a 
Professor  in  a  Theological  Seminary:  ''Are  the 
laws  of  the  Pentateuch  any  less  divine,  if  it  should 
be  proved  that  they  are  the  product  of  the  experi- 
ence of  God's  people  from  Moses  to  Josiah?" 
(Biblical  Study,  p.  25).  "  We  have  found  that  the 
results  of  the  textual  criticism  are  in  conflict  with 
verbal  inspiration,"  (p.  172).  Astruc,  a  Roman 
Catholic  physician,  in  1753,  ''presented  to  the 
learned  world,  with  some  hesitation  and  timidity, 
his  discovery  that  the  use  of  the  divine  names, 
Elohim  and  Jehovah,  divided  the  book  of  Genesis 
into  two  great  memoirs  and  nine  lesser  ones.  This 
was  a  real  discovery,  which,  after  a  hundred  years 
of  debate,  has  at  last  won  the  consent  of  the  vast 


INSPIRATION   OF  THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.         105 

majority  of  biblical  scholars,"  (p.  202).  ^^  Fiction 
is  represented  in  the  New  Testament  in  the  para- 
bles of  Jesus.  It  is  also  represented  in  the  apoc- 
ryphal books  of  Tobit  and  Susanna,  and  in  the  4th 
book  of  Maccabees  in  the  story  about  the  seven 
heroic  Maccabee  sons,  and,  in  Esdras  iv.,  in  the 
legend  about  Zerubbabel  and  Truth,"  (p.  238). 
''Higher  criticism  comes  into  conflict  with  the 
authority  of  Scripture  when  it  finds  that  its  state- 
ments are  not  authoritative  and  its  revelations  are 
not  credible,"  (p.  243).  ''  There  are  also  a  few  ex- 
amples in  the  New  Testament  of  the  use  of  legends 
and  fables,  (2  Pet.  ii.  4,  seq;  Jude  9,  seq  ;  2  Tim.  iii. 
8),  for  purposes  of  illustration,  which  do  not  com- 
mit the  authors  to  their  historical  truthfulness," 
(p.  316). 

There  is  much  more  of  the  same  sort,  but  enough 
has  been  quoted  to  bring  grief  to  all  who  love  the 
word  of  God,  and  to  show  that  the  influence  of  such 
a  book  with  young  men  preparing  for  the  ministry, 
like  the  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  the  human 
heart,  must  be  ''only  evil  continually."  The 
author  asks,  "Are  the  laws  of  the  Pentateuch  any 
less  divine,  if  it  should  be  proved  that  they  are  the 
product  of  the  experience  of  God's  people  from 
Moses  to  Josiah  V '  Undoubtedly  they  are  ;  and  not 
only  less  divine,  but  unworthy  of  the  least  respect, 
for  such  a  theory  makes  Moses,  or  the  writer  of  the 
books  of  Leviticus  and  Deuteronomy,  and  Christ 
Himself,  and  the  apostles,  false  witnesses,  because 
they  Ligain  and  again  testify  that  it  was  the  hand  of 
Moses  that  wrote  the  Pentateuch,  and  that  it  was 
delivered  to  Israel  before  the  Jordan  was  crossed. 


106  IS    THE    BIBLE    INSPIRED  ? 

Again  he  coolly  states  that  "the  results  of  the 
textual  criticism  are  in  conflict  with  verbal  inspira- 
tion ; ' '  but  in  whose  opinion  ?  Not  certainly  in  the 
opin.ion  of  Prof.  Charles  Hodge,  beyond  all  com- 
parison the  greatest  theologian  this  country  has 
ever  produced,  who  says,  "  The  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures  extends  to  the  ivords.  1.  This  again  is  in- 
cluded in  the  infallibility  which  our  Lord  ascribes 
to  the  Scriptures.  A  mere  human  report  or  record 
of  a  divine  revelation  must  of  necessity  be  not  only 
fallible,  but  more  or  less  erroneous.  2.  The' 
thoughts  are  in  the  words.  The  two  are  insepar- 
able. If  the  words,  priest,  sacrifice,  ransom,  ex- 
piation, propitiation,  purification  by  blood,  and  the 
like,  have  no  divine  authority,  then  the  doctrine 
which  they  embody  has  no  authority.  3.  Christ 
and  His  apostles  argue  from  the  very  words  of 
Scripture.  .  .  .  Constantly  it  is  the  very  words 
of  Scripture  which  are  quoted  as  of  divine  authority. 
4.  The  very  form  in  which  the  doctrine  of  inspira- 
tion is  taught  in  the  Bible,  assumes  that  the  organs 
of  God  in  the  communication  of  His  will  were  con- 
trolled by  Him  in  the  words  which  they  used. 
.  .  This,  moreover,  is  the  very  idea  of  inspira- 
tion as  understood  by  the  ancient  world.  The 
words  of  the  oracle  were  assumed  to  be  the  words 
of  the  divinity,  and  not  those  selected  by  the  organ 
of  communication,"  (Systematic  Theology,  Vol.  I 
p.  164). 

The  opinion  so  confidently  expressed  by  the 
author  of  Biblical  Study  is  certainly  not  that  of 
Professors  A.  A.  Hodge  and  B.  B.  Warfield,  who 
are  not  surpassed  by  him  in  scholarship  and  sound 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.         107 

judgment,  and  who  say  that  "the  divine  super- 
intendence, which  we  call  inspiration,  extended  to 
the  verbal  expression  of  the  thoughts  of  the  sacred 
writers,  as  well  as  to  the  thoughts  themselves,  and 
hence  the  Bible  considered  as  a  record,  an  utterance 
in  words  of  a  divine  revelation,  is  the  word  of  God 
to  us.  .  .  .  T/ieZine  (of  inspired  or  not  inspired, 
of  infallible  or  fallible)  ca7i  never  rationally  he  drawn 
between  the  thoughts  and  the  words  of  Scripture j^^ 
(Presbyterian  Review).  Again  the  latter  of  these 
able  Professors  says  in  a  published  statement  of  his 
views,  "  That  we  have  an  inspired  Bible  and  a  ver- 
bally inspired  one,  we  have  the  witness  of  God 
Himself;  and  that  this  means  that  every  statement 
of  whatever  kind  in  the  whole  compass  of  Scripture, 
from  the  first  word  of  Genesis  to  the  last  of  Reve- 
lation, is  infallibly  true  and  of  absolute  authority 
to  bind  the  head,  heart,  and  life,  rests  on  no  lower 
authority.  .  .  .  May  the  man  who  through  in- 
diflference,  carelessness,  conceit,  or  wickedness 
would  deny  this  truth  of  God  and  teach  men  so — 
no,  not  perish — but  be  converted  from  the  error  of 
his  way,  and,  like  a  second  Paul,  be  set  by  God^s 
power  to  defend  that  which  he  would  have  de- 
stroyed.'^ 

The  statement  that  the  results  of  textual  criti- 
cism are  in  conflict  with  verbal  inspiration, 
is  certainly  not  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Alexander 
Carson,  pronounced  by  Dr.  Edgar  in  the  Orthodox 
Presbyterian  of  Belfast,  "  the  Jonathan  Edwards  of 
the  nineteenth  century,''  who  says  to  those  who 
were  in  sympathy  with  the  views  expressed  by  the 
author  of  Biblical  Study,  "  How  can  we  know  the 


108  IS   THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

thoughts  of  an  author  except  by  the  words  of  the 
author?  Had  the  inspired  writers  been  left  to 
themselves  as  to  the  choice  of  words  in  any  part  of 
their  writings,  they  might  have  made  a  bad  choice, 
and  inadequately  or  erroneously  represented  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit.  The  best  writer  that  ever 
moved  a  quill  may  often  fail  in  expressing  his 
own  sentiments.  .  .  .  Will  you  show  us  how 
any  piece  of  composition  can  be  ascribed  to  an 
author,  when  the  words,  sentences  and  collocation 
are  not  his  own?  Are  the  words,  sentences  and 
arrangement,  no  parts  of  the  writings  to  which  they 
belong?  I  am  one  of  those  fantastic  people  who 
believe  that  a  writing  contains  all  the  words,  sen- 
tences and  arrangement,  that  are  found  in  it ;  and 
therefore  can  not  see  how  all  Scripture  is  given  by 
inspiration,  if  any  word  originally  in  the  Scripture 
was  uninspired.  I  am  so  old  fashioned  as  to  be- 
lieve, that  if  all  Scripture  is  inspired,  there  is  no 
Scripture  which  is  uninspired,  for  I  have  not  yet 
learned  to  believe  both  sides  of  a  contradiction," 
(Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  p.  104). 

It  is  certainly  not  the  opinion  of  the  first  of  liv- 
ing preachers,  C.  H.  Spurgeon,  who  says  in  his 
preface  to  the  fifth  volume  of  The  Treasury  of 
David,  ''  We  can  not  but  express  our  sense  of  the 
superficiality  of  the  best  and  most  laborious  of  com- 
ments, when  compared  with  the  bottomless  depths 
of  the  Sacred  Word,  nor  can  we  refrain  from  utter- 
ing our  growing  conviction  that  the  Scriptures  pos- 
sess a  verbal  as  well  as  a  plenary  inspiration ;  in- 
deed, we  are  quite  unable  to  see  how  they  could 
have  the  one  without  the  other.     So  much  of  mean- 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  109 

ing  dwells  in  the  turn  of  an  expression,  the  tense 
of  a  verb,  or  the  number  of  a  noun,  that  we  believe 
in  the  inspiration  of  the  words  themselves  ;  cer- 
tainly the  words  are  the  things  written — for  the  re- 
fined spirit  of  a  passage  is  not  the  creature  of  pen 
and  ink.  Our  Lord's  favorite  sentence,  '  It  is 
written,'  must  of  necessity  apply  to  words,  for 
only  words  are  written." 

Human  authority  is  of  little  worth  touching  a 
question  definitely  settled  by  the  word  of  God,  but 
since  so  many,  alas  !  consider  it  of  importance,  it 
may  not  be  amiss  to  cite  two  or  three  other  wit- 
nesses to  the  truth  of  verbal  inspiration.  Rev.  J. 
R.  Graves,  LL.  D.,  the  bravest  and  strongest  man, 
as  the  world  would  say,  in  the  Southern  Baptist 
Church,  asks  the  question,  "Are  all  parts  of  the 
Bible  inspired  ?  Is  its  inspiration  plenary  only,  or 
plenary  verbal  ?  .  .  .  Since  no  distinction  is 
made  in  the  amount  of  inspiration  of  any  part,  we 
are  not  at  liberty  to  intimate  a  difierence.  Each 
part  is  therefore  equally  inspired  with  any  other 
part.  If  the  whole  is  God's  word,  each  and  every 
portion  and  part  of  it,  every  paragraph  and  period, 
every  sentiment  and  sentence  and  ivord  is  equally 
God's  word.  .  .  .  There  may  be  errors  in  the 
transcription  of  the  ancient  manuscripts  ;  there 
may  be  errors  in  translation,  and  errors  many  in 
interpretation,  but  that  the  original  Scriptures  are 
the  words  of  the  living  God,  He  most  explicitly 
declares  them  to  be.  No  true  friend  to  Christianity 
can  advocate  a  spotted  inspiration,  since  it  efiect- 
ually  wipes  out  the  Bible  as  a  reliable  book  from 
the  face  of  the  earth." 


110  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

Robert  Haldane,  previously  quoted,  well  says, 
''  Nothing  can  be  more  clearly,  more  expressly,  or 
more  precisely  taught  in  the  Word  of  God.  And 
while  other  important  doctrines  may  be  met  with 
passages  of  seeming  opposition,  there  is  not  in  the 
language  of  the  Scriptures  one  expression  that  even 
appears  to  contradict  their  plenary  and  verbal  in- 
spiration. Whence,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  has 
arisen  the  idea  of  difficulty  so  general  among  the 
learned,  but  utterly  unknown  to  the  great  body  of 
Christians  ?  It  has  wholly  arisen  from  a  profane 
desire  to  penetrate  into  the  manner  of  the  Divine 
operation  on  the  mind  of  man  in  the  communica- 
tion of  revealed  truth.  .  .  .  Every  thing  con- 
tained in  the  Bible,  whether  the  words  of  the  pen- 
man, that  contain  the  mind  of  God,  or  the  words  of 
others,  that  are  inserted  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
such  information  as  He  is  pleased  to  impart,  is 
equally,  according  to  the  express  declarations  of 
Scripture,  dictated  by  God.  It  should,  however, 
be  observed,  that  it  is  not  at  all  implied  in  the 
assertion  of  plenary  verbal  inspiration,  that  every 
example  recorded  in  Scripture,  without  any  judg- 
ment expressed  with  regard  to  the  conduct  of  good, 
or  even  inspired  men,  should  be  for  imitation. 
When  the  word  of  God  records  human  conduct, 
without  pronouncing  on  its  morality,  whether  it  is 
sin  or  duty  must  be  ascertained  by  an  appeal  to  the 
general  principles  of  Scripture." 

Dr.  Anderson,  one  of  the  clearest  and  most 
scholarly  of  recent  English  writers,  tells  us  '4t  is 
also  most  important  to  recognize  the  fact  that  all 
Scripture    is    equally  inspired.     We    are    not    at 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  Ill 

liberty  to  exercise  a  verifying  faculty,  and  to  accept 
or  reject  what  we  please,  or  just  that  truth  or  state- 
ment that  commends  itself  to  our  consciousness, 
and  adjusts  itself  to  our  capacity  of  belief. 
The  writers  were  not  left  to  their  own  judgment  as 
to  what  particular  event  or  narrative  was  to  be  in- 
serted in  the  Scriptures,  any  more  than  as  to  how 
the  record  thereof  was  to  be  worded.  So  that 
whether  it  be  a  statement  of  the  most  prosaic  char- 
acter, or  a  prediction  of  the  loftiest  sublimity,  a 
maxim  of  simple  ethics,  or  a  doctrine  of  the  deep- 
est interest  and  importance,  all  is  inspired,  all  is  of 
God.  The  tables  of  genealogy,  the  dimensions  of 
the  Tabernacles,  the  prophecies  of  Messiah's  future 
triumph  and  glorious  reign — all  are  equally  in- 
spired, and  all  are  from  God.  And  not  only  is  this 
Divine  inspiration  plenary,  but  it  is  verbal  also ; 
for  the  words  themselves,  which  record  the  facts, 
describe  the  narratives,  and  enunciate  the  truths, 
are  all  and  equally  inspired.  That  is  to  say,  that 
the  words  of  inspired  Scripture  are  the  words  of  the 
Lord  God  Himself,  that  the  men  who  were  inspired 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  write  the  Scriptures  were 
not  left  to  choose  their  own  words  promiscuously, 
but  that  whilst  the  individuality  of  each  writer  was 
preserved,  the  words  themselves,  with  their  vari- 
ous inflexions,  as  well  as  the  subject-matter,  were 
given  to  them  by  direct  inspiration  of  God." 

To  this  may  be  added  the  statement  of  the  de- 
voted Bishop  of  Liverpool :  "  On  one  point  of  vast 
importance  in  the  present  day,  the  reader  will  see 
that  I  hold  very  decided  opinions.  That  point  is 
inspiration.     I  feel  no  hesitation  in   avowing,  that 


112  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

I  believe  in  the  plenary  inspiration  of  every  word 
of  the  original  text  of  Holy  Scripture.  I  hold  not 
only  that  the  Bible  contains  the  word  of  God,  but 
that  every  jot  of  it  was  written,  or  brought  together, 
by  Divine  inspiration,  and  is  the  word  of  God. 
.  .  .  For  my  own  part,  I  believe  that  the  whole 
Bible,  as  it  came  originally  from  the  hands  of  the 
inspired  writers,  was  verbally  perfect  and  without 
a  flaw.  I  believe  that  the  inspired  writers  were 
infallibly  guided  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  both  in  their 
selection  of  matter  and  their  choice  of  words." 

Such  testimony  by  the  ablest,  the  most  learned, 
the  most  distinguished,  the  most  faithful  of  God's 
witnesses,  might  be  multiplied  indefinitely ;  but 
these  samples  are  presented  to  put  young  men  on 
their  guard  against  the  unfounded  assertion  that 
"  the  results  of  the  textual  criticism  are  in  conflict 
with  verbal  inspiration."  This  is  just  the  opposite 
of  the  truth,  for  the  only  textual  criticism  that  is 
worthy  of  the  name,  not  the  mere  hunting  up  of 
various  readings,  but  the  devout  and  diligent  search 
into  the  derivation  and  meaning  of  words,  reveals 
ten  thousand  proofs  of  verbal  inspiration.  There 
is  scarcely  a  verse  in  the  Scriptures  that  does  not 
bring  to  light  evidence  of  the  most  careful  selection 
of  language,  and  a  supernatural  guidance  in  the 
choice  of  words  which  the  ablest  modern  scholar- 
ship is  sometimes  insufficient  to  render  suitably, 
words  just  exactly  adapted  to  show  out  delicate 
shades  of  meaning  often  lost  in  translations  ;  and 
never  once  indicating  ignorance  or  mistake  on  the 
part  of  the  writer.  If  any  one  doubts  this,  let  him, 
with  the  scope  of  a  passage  in   view,   attempt  to 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  118 

improve  its  phraseology,  and  he  will  soon  become 
convinced  that  tlie  penmen  of  a  rude  and  barbarous 
age  far  surpassed  him  in  the  proper  selection  of  a 
phraseology  of  precise  and  wondrous  accuracy. 
Let  him  also  consider  that  in  a  book  composed  by 
so  many  different  authors,  of  every  degree  of  cul- 
ture, intellect,  and  social  rank,  there  is  not  one 
statement  that  is  proved  to  be  false  by  modern 
knowledge.  Take  up  the  apocryphal  books,  or  the 
writings  of  the  early  fathers,  some  of  whom  were 
the  immediate  successors  and  even  the  companions 
of  the  apostles,  and  you  meet  with  palpable  absur- 
dities and  blunders.  Why  did  not  the  apostles 
themselves  fall  into  such  absurdities  and  blunders, 
in  sonre  narrative  or  doctrinal  teaching  or  illustra- 
tion? Their  writings  have  been  subject  to  the 
fiercest,  criticism  for  nearly  eighteen  hundred  years, 
and  as  the  highest  scientific  investigation  can  dis- 
cover no  error  in  them,  we  can  only  conclude  that 
their  very  words  were  given  by  inspiration  of  God. 
The  ''real  discovery  "  of  Astruc  that  the  use  of 
the  divine  names,  Elohim  and  Jehovah,  divides  the 
book  of  Genesis  into  two  great  memoirs,  betrays 
such  a  lack  of  spiritual  intelligence  that  it  is  sad 
and  painful  to  every  believer.  Even  a  child  can 
understand  why  Elohim  alone  is  used  in  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis,  where  only  the  work  of  creation 
is  described ;  and  why  God  takes  the  title  of  Jeho- 
vah Elohim  in  the  second  and  third  chapters,  when 
man  is  brought  upon  the  scene,  and  stands  in  cove- 
nant relation  to  the  Almighty  ;  and  why  Jehovah 
only  is  used  in  the  fourth  chapter,  when  it  is  a 
question  of  redemption.     It  was  not  Moses,  there- 


114  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

fore,  who  was  the  clumsy  compiler,  gathering  up 
two  great  memoirs  from  independent  documents 
which  he  found  floating  on  the  sea  of  ancient  tradi- 
tion, nor  were  there  two  or  more  writers  engaged 
upon  tlie  history  contained  in  Genesis,  but  it  is  the 
author  of  Biblical  Study  who  fails  to  see  the  entire 
appropriateness  of  different  names  under  varying 
circumstances. 

He  is  a  scholar,  however,  and  he  knows  that  the 
two  leading  divine  names  run  side  by  side  through- 
out the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  well  as  in 
the  Pentateuch  or  Hexateuch.  Thus  we  have 
Elohim  about  44  times,  and  Jehovah  nearly  200 
times  in  Judges  :  Elohim  3  times  and  Jehovah  18 
times  in  Ruth  :  Elohim  about  80  times  and  Jehovah 
about  330  times  in  1  Samuel :  Elohim  about  50 
times  and  Jehovah  about  50  times  in  2  Samuel : 
Elohim  about  80  times  and  Jehovah  about  260  times 
in  1  Kings  :  Elohim  about  70  times  and  Jehovah 
about  275  times  in  2  Kings  :  Elohim  about  110  times 
and  Jehovah  about  180  times  in  1  Chronicles: 
Elohim  about  175  times  and  Jehovah  about  375 
times  in  2  Chronicles  :  Elohim  53  times  and  Jeho- 
vah 40  times  in  Ezra ;  Elohim  70  times  and  Jeho- 
vah 18  times  in  Nehemiah  :  Elohim  17  times  and 
Jehovah  32  times  in  Job  :  Elohim  about  350  times 
and  Jehovah  about  680  times  in  the  Psalms  :  Elo- 
him 5  times  and  Jehovah  nearly  90  times  in  Pro- 
verbs :  Elohim  about  85  times  and  Jehovah  about 
4CK)  times  in  Isaiah  ;  and  so  it  is  to  the  last  of  the 
prophets. 

Why  does  not  the  Professor  see  a  real  discovery 
of  two  great  memoirs  and  nine  or  more  lesser  ones 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.  115 

in  each  of  these  books,  as  well  as  in  Genesis? 
Precisely  the  same  real  discovery  stares  him  in  the 
face  from  Judges  to  Malachi  which  meets  him  in 
the  Pentateuch,  and  it  puzzles  an  unlearned  man  to 
know  why  the  higher  critics  stop  at  the  first  five 
or  six  books  with  their  independent  documents, 
different  authors,  and  small  army  of  redactors  and 
sub-redactors.  Indeed  they  do  not  intend  to  stop, 
as  shown  in  their  treatment  of  Isaiah  and  other 
portions  of  the  Scriptures,  but  if  let  alone  for 
awhile  they  will  drive  their  ploughshare  from 
Genesis  to  Malachi,  and  then  from  Matthew  to 
Revelation,  pausing  at  last  by  the  side  of  Baur  and 
Strauss,  and  handing  over  their  admirers  and  fol- 
lowers to  rationalism  and  the  devil. 

But  what  has  been  said  about  Elohim  and  Jeho- 
vah does  not  fully  show  the  absurdity  of  the  argu- 
ment that  the  use  of  these  divine  names  proves  the 
existence  of  ''two  great  memoirs  and  nine  lesser 
ones."  Very  often  the  names  occur  within  the 
limits  of  9.  single  verse.  For  example,  "they  went 
in  male  and  female  of  all  flesh,  as  Elohim  had  com- 
manded him ;  and  Jehovah  shut  him  in,"  (Gen.  vii. 
16).  "I  will  make  thee  swear  by  Jehovah,  the 
Elohim  of  heaven,"  (Gen.  xxiv.  3)  ;  ''  Then  shall 
Jehovah  be  my  Elohim,"  (Gen.  xxviii.  21)  ;  ''  But 
Jehoshaphat  cried  out,  and  Jehovah  helped  him ; 
and  Elohim  moved  them  to  depart  from  him," 
(2  Chron.  xviii.  31)  ;  "In  Elohim  will  I  praise  his 
word ;  in  Jehovah  will  I  praise  his  word;"  (Ps.  Ivi. 
10).  Thus  it  is  in  scores  of  texts,  and  it  certainly 
requires  a  very  high  criticism  to  discover  in  each 
of  them  two  great  memoirs,  and  nine  lesser  ones, 


116  IS   THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

and  an  indefinite  number  of  redactors  and  sub- 
redactors  in  order  to  account  for  the  use  of  the  two 
divine  names. 

As  to  the  assertion  that  ''fiction  is  represented  in 
the  parables  of  Jesus,"  and  placing  them  on  a  level 
with  the  story  of  Tobit  and  Susanna,  as  to  the 
assertion  that '' higher  criticism  comes  into  conflict 
with  the  authority  of  Scripture  when  it  finds  that 
its  statements  are  not  authoritative  and  its  revela- 
tions are  not  credible,"  as  to  the  assertion  that 
there  are  legends  and  fables  in  the  New  Testament, 
''which  do  not  commit  the  authors  to  their  his- 
torical truthfulness,"  it  is  monstrous  and  shock- 
ing. If  such  declarations,  carefully  written  in  a 
book,  and  no  doubt  deliberately  uttered  from  the 
chair  of  instruction  in  the  class-room,  do  not  throw 
wide  open  the  doors  of  the  church  to  the  stalking 
in  of  a  defiant  and  rampant  infidelity,  and  do  not 
send  forth  the  students  for  the  ministry,  who  read 
and  hear  them,  with  no  settled  convictions  of  the 
divine  origin  of  the  book  they  are  commissioned 
to  make  known  to  the  people,  then  a  sufiicient 
cause  will  fail  to  be  followed  by  its  legitimate 
consequences. 

There  are  many  Christians  who  have  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  higher  criticism  in  its  "irreverent 
treatment  of  God's  word,  and  yet  they  are  sorely 
perplexed  about  verbal  inspiration.  The  manifest 
peculiarities  of  style  in  the  various  books  of  the 
Bible  constitute,  in  their  judgment,  a  serious  ob- 
jection to  the  statement  that  the  Holy  Spirit  dic- 
tated the  very  words.  But  surely  they  ought  to 
remember  that  when  we  have  the   clear  and  re- 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE    NEW   TESTAMENT.  117 

peated  testimony  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  to  their 
verbal  inspiration,  this  fact  alone  must  sweep  away 
their  hastily  formed  conclusion  which,  after  all,  is 
the  result  of  ignorance.  ''  Canst  thou  by  searching 
find  out  God  ?  canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty 
unto  perfection  ?  It  is  as  high  as  heaven  ;  what 
canst  thou  do  ?  deeper  than  hell ;  what  canst  thou 
know?"  (Jobxi.  7,  8). 

It  is  very  foolish  to  imagine  that  the  eternal  One, 
who  is  infinite  in  understanding,  and  the  source  of 
all  wisdom,  is  subject  to  the  limitations  of  man's 
feeble  little  intellect,  or  forced  to  confine  the  opera- 
tions of  His  mind  within  the  narrow  range  of 
human  experience.  No  one  doubts  that  there  are 
those  among  His  creatures,  with  mental  growth  and 
development  of  fifty  or  sixty  years  at  most,  who 
can  employ  a  great  variety  of  styles  in  their  writ- 
ings. Bacon,  for  example,  wrote  on  law,  religion, 
philosophy,  history,  science,  and  it  has  been  plau- 
sibly argued  that  he  composed  some  of  the  plays 
attributed  to  Shakespeare.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  wrote 
on  astronomy,  mathematics,  and  prophecy,  and 
while  there  was  enough  perhaps  to  indicate  unity 
of  authorship,  there  was  certainly  diversity  in  the 
modes  of  expression.  Many  others  have  turned 
their  pens  at  difierent  periods  of  a  short  life,  or 
perhaps  at  the  same  periods,  to  a  variety  of  sub- 
jects, now  sending  forth  a  romance,  and  then 
poetry,  and  then  a  careful  discussion  of  political 
questions,  and  then  their  views  of  some  scientific 
speculation ;  and  although  the  literary  style  em- 
ployed is  suited  to  the  topic  presented,  all  the  styles 
emanate  from  one  and  the  same  brain.     If  man  who 


118  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

is  but  a  worm  can  do  this,  what  can  not  God  do? 
May  not  He  who  formed  the  mind  employ  that  mind 
to  communicate  His  own  thoughts  and  words,  with- 
out any  interference  with  the  peculiarities  it  re- 
ceived from  His  creating  hand  ? 

Daily  all  over  the  civilized  world  organists  are 
seated  at  their  instruments,  and  by  a  touch  of  the 
keys  and  pedal  they  are  calling  forth  through  hun- 
dreds of  pipes  an  almost  endless  variety  of  sounds. 
Some  of  them  can  cause  at  least  a  resemblance  to 
the  dash  of  waves  upon  the  shore,  to  the  roar  of  the 
hurricane,  to  the  soft  notes  of  a  flute,  to  the  cry  of 
a  child  ;  but  all  must  proceed  from  the  same  wind 
chest  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  same  master 
mind.  One  who  has  stood  in  a  vast  garden,  and 
thought  of  the  innumerable  shapes  and  colors  and 
mingled  odors  about  him,  and  then  cast  his 
thoughts  over  the  vaster  field  of  creation,  and  re- 
flected that  every  one  of  these  things  was  in  the 
divine  mind  before  it  was  formed  by  the  divine 
handiwork,  can  only  wonder  at  the  foolishness  that 
restricts  the  boundless  resources  of  God.  On-e  who 
has  watched  the  movements  of  a  complicated 
machinery  in  factory  or  mill,  and  remembered  that 
it  is  the  product  of  a  creature,  who  in  comparison 
with  the  Creator  is  a  senseless  moth,  a  crawling 
caterpillar,  a  dull  toad,  can  only  be  astonished  at 
the  stupidity  which  doubts  the  ability  of  God  to 
utter  His  own  words  through  the  medium  of  a 
thousand  different  styles,  if  He  so  choose. 

There  is  another  common  objection  to  the  truth 
of  verbal  inspiration  which  has  been  recently  ex- 
pressed in  a  lecture  full   of  evolution-infidelity  and 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  119 

nonsense,  delivered  throughout  the  country  by  the 
most  popular  preacher  in  America.  He  is  a  man 
of  unquestioned  genius,  which  he  has  unquestion- 
ably exercised  for  evil.  He  is  as  much  worse  than 
an  infidel  as  a  dangerous  enemy,  who  has  stolen 
into  the  camp  in  the  guise  of  a  friend,  is  worse  than 
an  open  foe  in  front.  Like  all  other  secret  and 
avowed  skeptics  in  the  church,  and  all  other  here- 
tics, he  is  bitterly  hostile  to  verbal  inspiration,  and 
brings  forward  as  an  unanswerable  argument  against 
it  the  dissimilar  language  used  by  the  four  Evange- 
lists in  recording  the  inscription  upon  the  Saviour's 
cross.  There  is  nothing  original,  however,  in  the 
argument,  for  it  has  been  used  times  without  num- 
ber, and  is  used  still  until  it  has  grown  stale. 

It  does  not  seem  to  occur  to  him,  and  to  better 
men  who  think  there  is  force  in  the  argument,  that 
one  of  these  four  Evangelists  wrote  his  acount  of 
the  crucifixion  before  the  others.  All  that  the  three 
had  to  do,  therefore,  was  to  copy  precisely  the 
words  recorded  by  the  first,  and  this  a  school  boy 
could  have  done,  and  this  the  three  would  most 
certainly  have  done,  were  it  not  for  verbal  inspira- 
tion. They  did  not  copy  because  the  Holy  Ghost 
directed  them  not  to  copy.  He  had  His  own  spe- 
cial design  in  each  of  the  four  gospels,  which  to- 
gether form  the  four  equal  sides  of  our  Lord's  per- 
fect life  on  the  eart"h.  In  Matthew  He  is  presented 
with  special  reference  to  His  claim  and  title  as  the 
King  of  the  Jews,  in  Mark  as  the  obedient  Servant 
predicted  by  Isaiah,  in  Luke  as  the  Son  of  man,  and 
in  John  as  the  Son  of  God.  It  will  be  found  upon 
examination  that  the  four   modes  of  recording  the 


120  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

inscription  answer   exactly  to  the   purpose  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  four  gospels. 

Moreover  the  preface  to  the  inscription  in  each 
gospel  shows  that  it  was  the  deliberate  intention  of 
the  writers  to  record  the  words  differently.  In 
Matthew  we  are  told  that  His  executioners  ''  set  up 
over  his  head,  his  accusation  written,  THIS  IS 
JESUS  THE  KING  OF  THE  JEWS."  In  Mark 
we  are  told  ''the  superscription  of  his  accusation 
was  written  over,  THE  KING  OF  THE  JEWS." 
In  Luke  we  are  told  that  ''a  superscription  also 
was  written  over  him,  in  letters  of  Greek,  and 
Latin,  and  Hebrew,  THIS  IS  THE  KING  OF 
THE  JEWS."  In  John  we  are  told  that  ''  Pilate 
wrote  a  title,  and  put  it  on  the  cross.  And  the 
writing  was,  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH  THE  KING 
OF  THE  JEWS."  Must  not  every  candid  reader 
see  at  a  glance  that  these  differences  were  designed, 
that  they  were  not  left  to  chance  nor  even  to  the 
choice  of  the  writers,  and  that  taken  all  together 
they  make  up  the  full  inscription  ?  So  far,  then, 
from  disproving  the  truth  of  verbal  inspiration,  the 
testimony  of  the  four  Evangelists  to  the  words 
placed  on  the  cross,  when  carefully  considered,  is 
its  triumphant  demonstration. 

Another  difficulty  lies  in  the  way  of  many  who 
are  disposed  to  accept  verbal  inspiration,  when 
they  are  reminded  of  the  trivial  nature  of  some 
statements  found  in  the  Bible.  For  example,  for 
a  hundred  years  men  who  reject  this  truth,  have 
sneered  at  the  assertion  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
directed  the  apostle  to  write  to  Timothy  about  an 
old  cloke  that  had  been  left  at  Troas,  (2  Tim.  iv. 


INSPIRATION   OF   THE   NEW    TESTAMENT.  121 

13).  Well,  if  any  Christian^  and  especially  any 
minister  of  the  gospel,  can  find  it  in  their  hearts  to 
ridicule  the  tender  care  of  the  Divine  Spirit  for  the 
comfort  of  His  aged  and  faithful  servant,  awaiting 
martyrdom  in  a  Roman  dungeon,  they  are  welcome 
to  all  the  capital  they  can  make  out  of  the  touch- 
ing record. 

In  like  manner  every  objection  to  the  doctrine 
falls  to  the  ground,  and  although  the  higher  critics 
and  other  enemies  of  the  Bible  will  continue  to 
fight  it,  and  mislead  multitudes,  it  remains  true 
to-day  that  ''all  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
God."  All  of  the  sacred  writings  from  the  first 
verse  of  Genesis  to  the  last  verse  of  Revelation 
were  dictated  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  upon  those 
portions  which  professed  Christians  and  professors 
in  theological  seminaries  denounce  as  fictions  and 
legends,  as  the  story  of  Jonah  and  the  great  fish 
and  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
inspired  apostles  have  set  the  seal  of  their  solemn 
sanction.  The  Bible  is  a  unit,  one  perfect,  indivisi- 
ble whole,  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment forming  volume  first  and  volume  second  of 
God's  revealed  will  and  God's  communicated  words ; 
and  men  must  either  accept  all  of  it,  and  through  the 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  enter  heaven  at  last, 
or  they  must  reject  all  of  it,  and  go  into  hell  when 
they  die. 

That  this  is  not  too  strong  a  statement  will  be 
obvious  when  we  recall  the  relation  of  God's  word 
to  the  entire  question  of  our  salvation.  By  it  we 
are  begotten  or  born  into  newness  of  life.  *'  Of  his 
own  will  begat  he  us  with  the  word  of  truth,  that 


122  IS   THE    BIBLE    INSPIRED? 

we  should  be  a  kind  of  first  fruits  of  his  creatures/* 
(Jas.  i.  18).  *'  Being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible 
seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God, 
which  liveth  and  abideth  for  ever,"  (1  Pet.  i.  23). 
"  In  Christ  Jesus  I  have  begotten  you  through  the 
gospel,"  (1  Cor.  iv.  15).  By  it  we  are  cleansed 
from  the  filthiness  of  the  flesh.  ''Already  ye  are 
clean  because  of  the  word  which  I  have  spoken 
unto  you,"  (Johnxv.  3,  Revised  Version).  "  Christ 
also  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  for  it ;  that 
he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing 
of  water  by  the  word,  that  he  might  present  it  to 
himself  a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot,  or 
wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing  ;  but  that  it  should  be 
holy  and  without  blemish,"  (Eph.  v.  25-27). 

By  it  we  are  practically  sanctified,  or  set  apart  to 
the  service  of  God.  "  Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth  :  thy  word  is  truth.  As  thou  hast  sent  me 
into  the  world,  even  so  have  I  sent  them  into  the 
world.  And  for  their  sakes  I  sanctify  myself,  that 
they  also  might  be  sanctified  through  the  truth," 
(John  xvii.  17-19).  ''  We  are  bound  to  give  thanks 
alway  to  God  for  you,  brethren  beloved  of  the  Lord, 
because  God  hath  from  the  beginning  chosen  you  to 
salvation  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and 
belief  of  the  truth,"  (2  Thess.  ii.  13). 

By  it  we  are  built  up  and  nourished,  as  children 
advance  from  the  feebleness  of  infancy  to  the 
strength  of  maturity.  "And  now,  brethren,  I  com- 
mend you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  his  grace, 
which  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  to  give  you  an 
inheritance  among  all  them  which  are  sanctified," 
(Acts  XX.  32).     "As  new  born  babes,  desire  the  sin- 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  123 

cere  milk  of  the  word,  that  ye  may  grow  thereby : 
if  so  be  ye  have  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious/' 
(1  Pet.  ii.  2,  3). 

By  it  the  secrets  of  the  heart  are  made  bare,  and 
yet  it  furnishes  the  weapon  of  defence  against  the 
assaults  of  the  devil.  "  The  word  of  God  is  quick, 
and  powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged 
sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of 
soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and 
is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart,"  (Heb.  iv.  12).  ''And  take  the  helmet  of 
salvation,  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the 
word  of  God,"  (Eph.  vi.  17). 

By  it  God  accomplishes  His  will  in  the  scheme 
of  redemption.  *'As  the  rain  cometh  down,  and 
the  snow,  from  heaven,  and  retui^ieth  not  thither, 
but  watereth  the  earth,  and  maketh  it  bring  forth 
and  bud,  that  it  may  give  seed  to  the  sower,  and 
bread  to  the  eater ;  so  shall  my  word  be  that  goeth 
forth  out  of  my  mouth  :  it  shall  not  return  unto  me 
void;  but  it  shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please, 
and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it," 
(Isa.  Iv.  10,  11).  ''  Is  not  my  word  like  as  a  fire? 
saith  the  Lord ;  and  like  a  hammer  that  breaketh 
the  rock  in  pieces?"  (Jer.  xxiii.  29). 

By  it  human  destiny  is  decided.  Abraham  said 
to  the  rich  man  in  hell  pleading  in  behalf  of  his 
five  brethren,  '*  They  have  Moses  and  the  proph- 
ets ;  let  them  hear  them.  And  he  said.  Nay,  father 
Abraham :  but  if  one  went  unto  them  from  the  dead, 
they  will  repent.  And  he  said  unto  him.  If  they 
hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they 
be  persuaded,   though  one   rose  from  the   dead/' 


iJ4  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

(Luke  xvi.  29-31).  ''He  that  rejecteth  me,  and 
receiveth  not  my  words,  hath  one  that  judgeth 
him :  the  word  that  I  have  spoken,  the  same  shall 
judge  him  at  the  last  day,"  (John  xii.  48). 

We  are  not  surprised,  therefore,  to  find  the  scrip- 
tures called  the  oracles  of  God,  or  that  which  God 
has  spoken.  ''What  advantage  then  hath  the 
Jew  ?  or  what  profit  is  there  of  circumcision  ?  Much 
every  way :  chiefly,  because  that  unto  them  were 
committed  the  oracles  of  God,"  (Rom.  iii.  1,  2). 
They  are  called  the  word  of  God,  because  God  is 
their  author  and  revealer.  "  So  then  faith  cometh 
by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God," 
(Rom.  X.  17).  They  are  called  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  because  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  Jehovah 
Jesus,  they  everywhere  set  forth.  "  The  word  of 
the  Lord  endureth  for  ever.  And  this  is  the  word 
which  by  the  gospel  is  preached  unto  you,"  (1  Pet. 
i .  25) .  They  are  called  the  word  of  Christ,  because 
Christ  is  the  subject,  the  sum,  and  the  substance. 
"  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all 
wisdom,"  (Col.  iii.  16).  They  are  called  the  word 
of  life,  because  they  alone  secure  life  to  the  dead 
soul.  "  Holding  forth  the  word  of  life,"  (Phil.  ii. 
16).  They  are  called  the  word  of  truth,  because 
they  contain  the  truth  without  admixture  of  error. 
"  In  whom  ye  also  trusted,  after  that  ye  heard  the 
word  of  truth,  the  gospel  of  your  salvation,"  (Eph. 
i.  13).  They  are  called  the  word  of  faith,  because 
they  are  to  be  believed.  "  The  word  is  nigh  thee, 
even  in  thy  mouth,  and  in  thy  heart :  that  is,  the 
word  of  faith  which  we  preach  ;  that  if  thou  shalt 
confess  with  thy  mouth  the   Lord  Jesus,  and  shalt 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   NEW    TESTA^MENT.  125 

believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath  raised  him 
from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  he  saved,"    (Rom.  x.  9). 

Thus  does  the  Holy  Spirit  seek  to  impress  upon 
us  in  every  way  the  unspeakal^le  importance  and 
inestimable  value  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  not  one 
word  of  which  from  the  first  of  Genesis  to  the  last 
of  Revelation  could  be  changed  but  for  the  worse. 
Every  verse,  every  line,  the  tense  of  every  verb, 
the  number  of  every  noun,  and  every  little  particle 
are  worthy  of  devout  and  diligent  study  ;  and  such 
study  would  reveal  new  beauties,  and  marvellous 
proofs  of  superhuman  wisdom,  and  a  more  profound 
conviction  each  day  that  such  a  book  can  come  only 
from  God. 

Since  the  fall  of  man  He  has  placed  before  us  but 
two  perfect  objects,  the  incarnate  Word  and  the 
written  word,  and  the  relation  between  the  two  is 
most  intimate  and  precious.  The  former  is  every- 
where revealed  in  the  latter,  and  he  who  reads  a 
chapter  in  the  Old  Testament  or  the  New,  and  does 
not  find  Christ  there  has  read  it  unintelligently. 
'^Search  the  scriptures,"  He  said  to  the  Jews; 
''  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life  :  and 
they  are  they  which  testify  of  me,"  (John  v.  39). 
''And  beginning  at  Moses,  and  all  the  prophets,  he 
expounded  unto  them  in  all  the  scriptures  the  things 
concerning  himself.  .  .  .  And  they  said  one  to 
another.  Did  not  our  heartburn  within  us,  while  he 
talked  with  us  by  the  way,  and  while  he  opened  to 
us  the  scriptures  ?  .  .  .  And  he  said  unto 
them,  These  are  the  words  which  I  spake  unto  you, 
while  I  was  yet  with  you,  that  all  things  must  be 
fulfilled,  which  were  written  in  the  law  of  Moses, 


126  IS    THE   BIBLE   INSPIRED? 

and  in  the  prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms,  concerning 
me.  Then  opened  he  their  understanding,  that 
they  might  understand  the  scriptures,"  (Luke 
xxiv.  27,  32,  44,  45). 

This  is  just  what  is  needed  now,  for  when  by  His 
Spirit  He  opens  to  us  the  Scriptures,  and  opens  the 
understanding  that  we  may  understand  the  Scrip- 
tures, we  will  be  more  like  Paul  who,  as  his  man- 
ner was,  went  in  unto  the  Jews,  "  and  three  sab- 
bath days  reasoned  with  them  out  of  the  scriptures, 
opening  and  alleging,  that  Christ  must  needs  have 
suffered,  and  risen  again  from  the  dead,"  (Acts 
xvii.  3)  ;  and  who  said  to  king  Agrippa,  "  Having 
therefore  obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue  unto  this 
day,  witnessing  both  to  small  and  great,  saying 
none  other  things  than  those  which  the  prophets 
and  Moses  did  say  should  come  :  that  Christ  should 
suffer,  and  that  he  should  be  the  first  that  should 
rise  from  the  dead,  and  should  show  light  unto  the 
people,  and  to  the  Gentiles,"  (Acts  xxvi.  22,  23). 
Let  Christ  be  the  object  before  the  mind,  and  the 
dryest  details  of  Old  Testament  history,  and  the 
Old  Testament  ritual,  become  radiant  with  glory. 

But  there  is  another  aspect  in  which  the  incar- 
nate Word  and  the  written  word  may  be  viewed  as 
inseparably  linked  together,  and  bearing  to  each 
other  the  closest  resemblance.  In  both  we  find  a 
divine  and  a  human  element,  and  in  both  the 
human  element  is  perfect,  absolutely  free  from  the 
touch  of  error  or  failure.  Christ  was  and  is  for- 
evermore  God  in  the  true  and  fullest  sense.  But 
His  humanity  had  upon  it  no  taint  of  sin  from  the 
first  Adam's  fallen  nature,  because  He  was  begot- 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  127 

ten  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Precisely  so  is  it  with  the 
written  word.  It  is  divine  in  the  true  and  fullest 
sense,  and  it  is  also  human  in  the  true  and  fullest 
sense,  but  that  which  is  human  in  it  is  far  removed 
from  human  mistakes,  because  it  was  produced  by 
the  Holy  Ghost.  This  has  ever  been  the  faith  of 
those  most  deeply  read  in  the  oracles  of  God,  for  as 
Auberlen  says,  "  The  substance  of  the  old  Protest- 
ant doctrine  of  inspiration  may  be  expressed  in 
these  words  :  the  Holy  Spirit  dictated  the  Bible 
verbally,  and  the  human  composers  are  not  authors, 
but  only  the  writers — indeed,  only  the  hands  or 
the  pens." 

Such  a  mechanical  view  of  inspiration,  as  it  is 
called,  is  now  almost  universally  rejected,  but  it  is 
far  less  dishonoring  to  God,  and  far  less  dangerous 
to  the  souls  of  men,  than  the  rash  statements  so 
often  heard  from  pulpits,  and  so  often  seen  in  the 
writings  of  ministers,  claiming  to  be  evangelical. 
It  has  come  to  pass  that  if  any  declaration  of  the 
Bible  does  not  fall  in  with  the  popular  belief,  or 
with  the  judgment  of  human  reason,  or  with  a  shal- 
low reform,  or  with  the  deductions  of  some  imper- 
tinent and  half-fledged  science,  it  is  treated  by  mul- 
titudes of  Christ's  professed  ambassadors  as  a 
dream,  or  a  vision,  or  a  fiction,  or  a  legend,  or  a 
fable.  Poor  fools  !  they  do  not  see  that  for  the  sake 
of  gaining  a  little  notoriety,  or  of  winning  a  repu- 
tation for  culture,  they  are  playing  into  the  hands 
of  infidelity,  and  undermining  the  foundations  of 
the  church,  and  proclaiming  with  unblushing  cheek 
their  treachery  to  their  Lord  and  His  word. 

But  when  professors  in   theological   seminaries. 


128  IS    THE    BIBLE   INSPIRED  ? 

appointed  to  train  young  men  for  the  gospel  minis- 
try, are  engaged  in  writing  books  that,  if  believed, 
must  inevitably  destroy  the  confidence  of  the  com- 
mon people  in  the  Bible,  it  is  a  still  more  appalling 
sign  of  the  times.  Doubtless  they  are  quite  honest 
in  their  conviction  that  they  are  advancing  the 
cause  of  the  truth,  and  that  the  alleged  discoveries 
of  the  higher  criticism  will  lead  to  a  more  intelli- 
gent acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures.  Doubtless 
they  think  that  they  are  doing  God  service,  as  did 
the  Jews  who  gathered  around  the  cross  ;  but  if  so, 
once  more  is  the  prayer  of  the  divine  Sufiferer 
needed  in  their  behalf,  '^  Father,  forgive  them;  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do.'* 


1       BS480 .B875 

j      Is  the  Bible  inspired? 

j  Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1   1012  00050  9036 


i 


